David Bowman

Forest expansion and grassland contraction within a Eucalyptus savanna matrix between 1941 and 1994 at Litchfield National Park in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-2001

DOI: 10.1046/J.1466-822X.2001.00252.X

Abandoned Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) nests and coastal rainforest boundary dynamics during the late Holocene in monsoonal Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-1999

DOI: 10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00069-X

The Fuel Moisture Index Based on Understorey Hygrochron iButton Humidity and Temperature Measurements Reliably Predicts Fine Fuel Moisture Content in Tasmanian Eucalyptus Forests

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 30-08-2022

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE5050130

Abstract: Fine fuel moisture content (FFMC) is a key determinant of wildfire occurrence, behaviour, and pyrogeographic patterns. Accurate determination of FFMC is laborious, hence managers and ecologists have devised a range of empirical and mechanistic measures for FFMC. These FFMC measures, however, have received limited field validation against field-based gravimetric fuel moisture measurements. Using statistical modelling, we evaluate the use of the relationship between gravimetric FFMC and the Fuel Moisture Index (FMI), based on Hygrochron iButton humidity and temperature dataloggers. We do this in Tasmanian wet and dry Eucalyptus forests subjected to strongly contrasting disturbance histories and, hence, percentage of canopy cover. We show that 24 h average FMI based on data from Hygrochron iButtons 0.75 m above the forest floor provides reliable estimates of gravimetric litter fuel moisture (c. 1 h fuels) that are strongly correlated with near surface gravimetric fuel moisture sticks (c. 10 h fuels). We conclude FMI based on Hygrochron iButton data provides ecologists with an economic and effective method to retrospectively measure landscape patterns in fuel moisture in Tasmanian forests.

Evolution of a pyrocumulonimbus event associated with an extreme wildfire in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 27-05-2020

DOI: 10.5194/NHESS-20-1497-2020

Abstract: Abstract. Extreme fires have substantial adverse effects on society and natural ecosystems. Such events can be associated with the intense coupling of fire behaviour with the atmosphere, resulting in extreme fire characteristics such as pyrocumulonimbus cloud (pyroCb) development. Concern that anthropogenic climate change is increasing the occurrence of pyroCbs globally is driving more focused research into these meteorological phenomena. Using 6 min scans from a nearby weather radar, we describe the development of a pyroCb during the afternoon of 4 January 2013 above the Forcett–Dunalley fire in south-eastern Tasmania. We relate storm development to (1) near-surface weather using the McArthur forest fire danger index (FFDI) and the C-Haines index, the latter of which is a measure of the vertical atmospheric stability and dryness, both derived from gridded weather reanalysis for Tasmania (BARRA-TA) and (2) a chronosequence of fire severity derived from remote sensing. We show that the pyroCb rapidly developed over a 24 min period on the afternoon of 4 January, with the cloud top reaching a height of 15 km. The pyroCb was associated with a highly unstable lower atmosphere (C-Haines value of 10–11) and severe–marginally extreme (FFDI 60–75) near-surface fire weather, and it formed over an area of forest that was severely burned (total crown defoliation). We use spatial patterns of elevated fire weather in Tasmania and fire weather during major runs of large wildfires in Tasmania for the period from 2007 to 2016 to geographically and historically contextualise this pyroCb event. Although the Forcett–Dunalley fire is the only known record of a pyroCb in Tasmania, our results show that eastern and south-eastern Tasmania are prone to the conjunction of high FFDI and C-Haines values that have been associated with pyroCb development. Our findings have implications for fire weather forecasting and wildfire management, and they highlight the vulnerability of south-east Tasmania to extreme fire events.

Low genetic diversity in the bottlenecked population of endangered non-native banteng in northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 21-06-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-294X.2007.03365.X

Biological responses to the press and pulse of climate trends and extreme events

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 29-07-2017

DOI: 10.1038/S41558-018-0187-9

Australian state forecasts deadly thunderstorm asthma

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 26-01-2018

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.359.6374.380

Abstract: Scientists probe ways that storms weaponize pollen.

Vegetation pattern and environmental correlates in coastal forests of the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 02-1986

DOI: 10.1007/BF00044880

Stand characteristics, understorey associates and environmental correlates ofEucalyptus tetrodonta F. Muell. forests on Gunn Point, northern Australia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 02-1986

DOI: 10.1007/BF00044881

Satellite-based comparison of fire intensity and smoke plumes from prescribed fires and wildfires in south-eastern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2013

DOI: 10.1071/WF11165

Abstract: Smoke pollution from wildfires can adversely affect human health, and there is uncertainty about the amount of smoke pollution caused by prescribed v. wildfires, a problem demanding a landscape perspective given that air quality monitoring is sparse outside of urban airsheds. The primary objective was to assess differences in fire intensity and smoke plume area between prescribed fires and wildfires around Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. We matched thermal anomaly satellite data to databases of fires in forests surrounding both cities. For each matched fire we determined hotspot count and quantified their intensity using the fire radiative power (FRP) measurement. Smoke plumes were mapped using MODIS true colour images. Wildfires had more extreme fire intensity values than did prescribed burns and the mean size of wildfire plumes was six times greater than of prescribed fire plumes for both cities. Statistical modelling showed that the horizontal area covered by smoke plumes could be predicted by hotspot count and sum of FRP, with differences between cities and fire type. Smoke plumes from both fire types reached both urban areas, and particulate pollution was higher on days affected by smoke plumes. Our results suggested that prescribed fires produced smaller smoke plume areas than did wildfires in two different flammable landscapes. Smoke plume and FRP data, combined with air pollution data from static monitors, can be used to improve smoke management for human health.

All politics is local: the case of Macrocephalon maleo conservation on Sulawesi, Indonesia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 08-11-2012

DOI: 10.1007/S10531-012-0397-9

Climate–vegetation–fire interactions and feedbacks: trivial detail or major barrier to projecting the future of the Earth system?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-09-2016

DOI: 10.1002/WCC.428

The 'wilderness effect' and the decline of Callitris intratropica on the Arnhem Land Plateau, northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2001

DOI: 10.1071/BT00087

Abstract: An aerial survey along a transect from eastern side of the Arnhem Land Plateau where Aboriginal people still lead a semi-traditional lifestyle, to the unoccupied western side of the Plateau, revealed systematic differences in the proportion of living and dead Callitris intratropica trees. Multiple regression analysis showed that the highest proportion of dead C. intratropica stems occurred on unoccupied, level terrain dominated by open Eucalyptus forests, with a minor or complete absence of Allosyncarpia ternata closed-canopy forests. A detailed study of one population of C. intratropica in western Arnhem Land adjacent to a small patch of A. ternata forest, known as Round Jungle, showed that the population had a unimodal size-class distribution, reflecting a low density of stems less than 10 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh). A computer simulation model was developed on the basis of estimates of annual fecundity, mortality and growth rates derived from observations of the stand. Sensitivity analyses suggested that a well-stocked stand could be transformed to one similar to that observed at Round Jungle after 50 years, if annual mortality rate of the immature stems (i.e. cm dbh) was greater than 85%. Under these conditions, the stand would become extinct after 325 years. Variation in estimates of mature-stem ( cm dbh) mortality and fecundity had much less effect on the predictions of the model than the rate of mortality of the smallest size class. The model suggests that C. intratropica populations can rapidly fluctuate in response to changes in fire regime, while extinction is a gradual process and is consequently unlikely if some seedlings can escape burning, for instance by establishing in fire-protected microsites. This conclusion is consistent with the observed greater mortality of C. intratropica on sand sheets that have little topographic variability at the micro- or mesoscale, compared with other habitat types in areas that are currently unoccupied by Aboriginal people. Our study shows that predicting the fate of in idual populations will require careful consideration of local factors such as the presence of micro-topographically safe sites for seedling establishment, as well as the surrounding pattern of vegetation and landforms that mediate the impact of fire on C. intratropica. However, we suggest that rather than refining details of the adjustment of C. intratropica in response to changed fire regimes associated with European colonisation, subsequent research should focus on the effect and significance of these changes for other organisms.

Dynamics of Acacia aneura - Triodia boundaries using carbon (14C and δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) signatures in soil organic matter in central Australia

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 04-2007

DOI: 10.1177/0959683607076442

Abstract: Soil organic matter (SOM) was s led from soil profiles on a near level sandsheet at the southern limit of the Tanami Desert in central Australia to determine if boundaries of Triodia hummock grassland— Acacia aneura shrublands had changed in the Holocene. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating of 16 soil profiles showed that SOM that had accumulated at 100 to 140 cm depth, (near the base of most profiles) had ages between 1175 and 2630 14 C years, averaging 1906 14 C years. The stable carbon isotopic (δ 13 C) composition of SOM from the upper 50 cm soil profiles in the A. aneura shrubland (inhabited by plants with predominantly C3 photosynthetic pathway) was significantly more 13 C-depleted than the comparable soil interval beneath a Triodia grassland (predominantly C4 photosynthetic pathway). Mean age of SOM at 50 cm depth was 830 14 C years, suggesting the vegetation has been stable for about 1000 years. However, soil profiles in Triodia grassland adjacent to the shrubland boundary had slightly more depleted δ 13 C relative to sites .5 km from the boundary. With respect to stable nitrogen isotopic values, only surface soils in the Acacia shrublands were found to be 15 N-enriched relative to all other soil depths. Although there were no obvious environmental discontinuities, such as change in soil type or slope angle, associated with the ecosystem boundaries, the Acacia shrublands were found to occur on more clay-rich soils with higher concentrations of total phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium compared with the surrounding grasslands, and these trends became more pronounced with increasing distance from the ecotone: it is unclear if these differences are a cause or an effect of the vegetation mosaic. The concordance of the vegetation boundaries with the δ 13 C and δ 15 N and of soil nutrients are consistent with only minor attrition of the A. aneura shrublands in the late Holocene at this site.

Tree growth rates in north Australian savanna habitats: seasonal patterns and correlations with leaf attributes

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2004

DOI: 10.1071/BT03119

Abstract: We demonstrate a significant relationship between leaf attributes and growth rates of mature trees under natural conditions in northern Australia, a pattern that has not been widely reported before in the literature. Increase in diameter at breast height (DBH) was measured every 3 months for 2 years for 21 tree species from four habitats near Darwin: Eucalyptus open forest, mixed eucalypt woodland, Melaleuca sw and dry monsoon rainforest. Assimilation rates and foliar chlorophyll, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were positively correlated with growth rate and negatively correlated with leaf mass per area. For most species, increases in DBH were confined to the wet-season (summer) period between November and May. Average annual increases in DBH were larger in the dry monsoon rainforest (0.87 cm) and the Melaleuca sw (0.65 cm) than in the woodland (0.20 cm) and the open forest (0.16 cm), and were larger in non-Myrtaceous species (0.53 cm) than in Myrtaceous species (0.25 cm). These results are discussed in relation to the frequent fire regime prevailing over much of northern Australia which causes the marked contrast between the small pockets of fire-tender closed monsoon rainforest and large expanses of fire-tolerant savanna.

Biogeographic Patterns, Environmental Correlates and Conservation of Avifauna in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 03-1992

DOI: 10.2307/2845501

Soil or fire: what causes treeless sedgelands in Tasmanian wet forests?

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 20-09-2017

DOI: 10.1007/S11104-017-3386-7

Geographic Patterns of Fire Severity Following an Extreme Eucalyptus Forest Fire in Southern Australia: 2013 Forcett-Dunalley Fire

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 22-10-2018

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1030040

Abstract: Fire severity is an important characteristic of fire regimes however, global assessments of fire regimes typically focus more on fire frequency and burnt area. Our objective in this case study is to use multiple lines of evidence to understand fire severity and intensity patterns and their environmental correlates in the extreme 2013 Forcett-Dunalley fire in southeast Tasmania, Australia. We use maximum likelihood classification of aerial photography, and fire behavior equations, to report on fire severity and intensity patterns, and compare the performance of multiple thresholds of the normalised burn ratio (dNBR) and normalized difference vegetation index (dNDVI) (from pre- and post-fire Landsat 7 images) against classified aerial photography. We investigate how vegetation, topography, and fire weather, and therefore intensity, influenced fire severity patterns. According to the aerial photographic classification, the fire burnt 25,950 ha of which 5% burnt at low severities, 17% at medium severity, 32% at high severity, 23% at very high severities, while 22% contained unburnt patches. Generalized linear modelling revealed that fire severity was strongly influenced by slope angle, aspect, and interactions between vegetation type and fire weather (FFDI) ranging from moderate (12) to catastrophic ( ). Extreme fire weather, which occurred in 2% of the total fire duration of the fire (16 days), caused the fire to burn nearly half (46%) of the total area of the fireground and resulted in modelled extreme fireline intensities among all vegetation types, including an inferred peak of 68,000 kW·m−1 in dry forest. The best satellite-based severity map was the site-specific dNBR (45% congruence with aerial photography) showing dNBR potential in Eucalyptus forests, but the reliability of this approach must be assessed using aerial photography, and/or ground assessment.

Population collapse and retreat to fire refugia of the Tasmanian endemic conifer Athrotaxis selaginoides following the transition from Aboriginal to European fire management

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-03-2020

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15031

Conservation of coastal wetlands of the Northern territory of Australia: The Mary River floodplain

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 1990

DOI: 10.1016/0006-3207(90)90119-A

Fire, herbivores and the management of temperate Eucalyptus savanna in Tasmania: Introducing the Beaufront fire – mammalian herbivore field experiment

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2021

DOI: 10.1111/EMR.12453

Abstract: The temperate Eucalyptus savannas in the Midlands of Tasmania are ancient ecosystems where fire and grazing are intrinsic ecological disturbances. The arrival of Aboriginal people into Tasmania some 40,000 years ago altered natural fire regimes, and since the end of the last ice age, their skilful patch burning increased the grass cover and the abundance of large grazers in the Midlands savannas. This ancient socio‐ecological tradition abruptly ended following European invasion in the early 19th century, which resulted in the rapid establishment of pastoralism, causing profound adverse changes to the ecological integrity of the temperate savannas. These changes include widespread tree clearing, extinction of native biota, establishment of domestic and feral mammalian herbivores, the introduction of exotic plants, broadscale application of chemical fertilisers and more recently irrigation. The Midlands retains a small fraction of the original vegetation, which typically occurs in small fragments on private land. These have been colonised by non‐native plants and animals, and experience altered fire regimes. There is a growing awareness that to effectively manage temperate savanna fragments may require the intentional coupling of fire and herbivory. We describe the establishment of a field experiment designed to test four broad hypotheses: a) herbivore off‐take increases after fire b) smaller burned areas experience more intense herbivory than larger ones c) non‐native herbaceous plants are more tolerant of herbivory, whereas native herbaceous species are more tolerant of fire and d) Eucalyptus seedlings are most likely to reach maturity in areas which are both burned and protected from herbivores. A novel aspect of the fire‐herbivore experiment was that the Tasmanian Aboriginal community were engaged with and were contracted to conduct the burning. The findings of this landscape ecology experiment will inform the management of remnant temperate Eucalyptus savannas.

Conservation of monsoon rainforest isolates in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 1992

DOI: 10.1016/0006-3207(92)90713-W

Pyrodiversity—why managing fire in food webs is relevant to restoration ecology

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 29-06-2016

DOI: 10.1111/REC.12401

Global increase in wildfire risk due to climate‐driven declines in fuel moisture

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-12-2022

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16006

Abstract: There is mounting concern that global wildfire activity is shifting in frequency, intensity, and seasonality in response to climate change. Fuel moisture provides a powerful means of detecting changing fire potential. Here, we use global burned area, weather reanalysis data, and the Canadian fire weather index system to calculate fuel moisture trends for multiscale biogeographic regions across a gradient in vegetation productivity. We quantify the proportion of days in the local fire season between 1979 and 2019, where fuel moisture content is below a critical threshold indicating extreme fire potential. We then associate fuel moisture trends over that period to vegetation productivity and comment on its implications for projected anthropogenic climate change. Overall, there is a strong drying trend across realms, biomes, and the productivity gradient. Even where a wetting trend is observed, this often indicates a trend toward increasing fire activity due to an expected increase in fuel production. The detected trends across the productivity gradient lead us to conclude global fire activity will increase with anthropogenic climate change.

Environmental Relationships of Woody Vegetation Patterns in the Australian Monsoon Tropics

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1987

DOI: 10.1071/BT9870151

Abstract: Indirect gradient analysis was applied to 48 vegetation s les taken from a mosaic of woody vegetation at Berry Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Compositional variation among the s les was effectively summarised by a two-dimensional ordination by non-metric multidimensional scaling. Subsequent rotational correlation analysis revealed marked relationships between the vegetation pattern and edaphic variables which reflect two aspects of the moisture regime: water availability during the dry season and the degree of inundation during the wet season. Moisture availability is principally determined by topographic position, through its relationship with soil texture and water table depth. Poor drainage during the wet season appears to separate Melaleuca communities from those dominated by eucalypts. Shrubby and grassy open forests appear to be differentiated by the intensity of the winter drought. The grassy understoreys, which occur on upslope positions well above the water table, die off shortly after the end of the wet season thus providing fuel for fires. A closed Carpentaria forest, located on the slopes above a spring, was found to have relatively organic-rich, fertile, fine-textured soils, possibly reflecting the superior nutrient cycling of the closed forest compared with the frequently burnt surrounding open communities. We suggest that the dense evergreen vegetation presents a barrier to fires from the open communities. This would account for the greater proportion of woody, closed forest species that regenerate exclusively from seed. The fires in the eucalypt forests are of low intensity and plants have vegetative mechanisms to recover from damage. We conclude that the edaphically determined vegetation controls fire regime rather than the converse.

Seasonal water availability predicts the relative abundance of C₃ and C₄ grasses in Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 19-02-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1466-8238.2006.00285.X

Exploring the key drivers of forest flammability in wet eucalypt forests using expert-derived conceptual models

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 24-06-2020

DOI: 10.1007/S10980-020-01055-Z

Australia—A Model System for the Development of Pyrogeography

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 04-2011

DOI: 10.4996/FIREECOLOGY.0701005

Extensible Database of Validated Biomass Smoke Events for Health Research

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 06-12-2018

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1030050

Abstract: The extensible Biomass Smoke Validated Events Database is an ongoing, community driven, collection of air pollution events which are known to be caused by vegetation fires such as bushfires (also known as wildfire and wildland fires), or prescribed fuel reduction burns, and wood heaters. This is useful for researchers of health impacts who need to distinguish smoke from vegetation versus other sources. The overarching aim is to study statistical associations between biomass smoke pollution and health. Extreme pollution events may also be caused by dust storms or fossil fuel smog events and so validation is necessary to ensure the events being studied are from biomass. This database can be extended by contribution from other researchers outside the original team. There are several available protocols for adding validated smoke events to the database, to ensure standardization across datasets. Air pollution data can be included, and free software was created for identification of extreme values. Protocols are described for reference material needed as supporting evidence for event days. The utility of this database has previously been demonstrated in analyses of hospitalization and mortality. The database was created using open source software that works across operating systems. The prospect for future extensions to the database is enhanced by the description in this paper, and the availability of these data on the open access Github repository enables easy addition to the database with new data by the research community.

Fire is a major driver of patterns of genetic diversity in two co‐occurring Tasmanian palaeoendemic conifers

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-12-2016

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12919

Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia: a tradition of ecosystem management

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-2001

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.2001.00555.X

Climate, not Aboriginal landscape burning, controlled the historical demography and distribution of fire-sensitive conifer populations across Australia

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 22-12-2013

DOI: 10.1098/RSPB.2013.2182

Abstract: Climate and fire are the key environmental factors that shape the distribution and demography of plant populations in Australia. Because of limited palaeoecological records in this arid continent, however, it is unclear as to which factor impacted vegetation more strongly, and what were the roles of fire regime changes owing to human activity and megafaunal extinction (since ca 50 kya). To address these questions, we analysed historical genetic, demographic and distributional changes in a widespread conifer species complex that paradoxically grows in fire-prone regions, yet is very sensitive to fire. Genetic demographic analysis showed that the arid populations experienced strong bottlenecks, consistent with range contractions during the Last Glacial Maximum ( ca 20 kya) predicted by species distribution models. In southern temperate regions, the population sizes were estimated to have been mostly stable, followed by some expansion coinciding with climate amelioration at the end of the last glacial period. By contrast, in the flammable tropical savannahs, where fire risk is the highest, demographic analysis failed to detect significant population bottlenecks. Collectively, these results suggest that the impact of climate change overwhelmed any modifications to fire regimes by Aboriginal landscape burning and megafaunal extinction, a finding that probably also applies to other fire-prone vegetation across Australia.

Pyrogeography and the Global Quest for Sustainable Fire Management

Publisher: Annual Reviews

Date: 17-10-2013

DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-ENVIRON-082212-134049

Abstract: Fire is an ancient influence on the Earth system, affecting biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems. Humans have had a profound influence on global fire activity through setting and controlling fires, modifying the flammability of landscapes, and, more recently, changing the climate through the combustion of fossil fuels. We review this web of complex direct and indirect effects of fire on Earth using the framework provided by the emerging discipline of pyrogeography that unites biological, atmospheric, and social perspectives on fire. We describe the transition from fire activity before humans evolved, through the hunter-gatherer and agricultural phases, to the current period in Earth history dominated by industrialization (Anthropocene). We illustrate how pyrogeography provides the necessary framework to understand fire in the Anthropocene, including the management of pyrogenic emissions, protection of human life, conservation of bio ersity, and provision of ecosystem services.

Brave new green world - Consequences of a carbon economy for the conservation of Australian biodiversity

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOCON.2013.02.012

Leaf attributes in the seasonally dry tropics: a comparison of four habitats in northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-2003

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2435.2003.00761.X

Bushfire Smoke: An Exemplar of Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-09-2013

DOI: 10.1111/1745-5871.12028

Kangaroo metabolism does not cause the relationship between bone collagen δ¹⁵N and water availability

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 05-09-2006

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2435.2006.01186.X

Differences in the Stand Structure of Eucalyptus tetrodonta Forests Between Elcho Island and Gunn-Point, Northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1993

DOI: 10.1071/BT9930211

Abstract: Eucalyptus tetrodonta dominated open forests occur across the northern coast of the Northern Territory. They typically have a well developed grass understorey, scattered saplings, numerous woody sprouts (ramets) and a conspicuous absence of seedlings (genets). We compared a typical E. tetrodonta stand on Gunn Point with an atypical stand on Elcho Island the forest on Elcho Island had less grass cover, greater canopy and litter cover, a deeper organic layer and higher densities of seedlings, woody sprouts and saplings than on Gunn Point. Gunn Point had a greater number of large E. tetrodonta trees that were more widely spaced than trees on Elcho Island. The cause of these differences remains unclear.

Pattern and Change in an Acacia aneura Shrubland and Triodia Hummock Grassland Mosaic on Rolling Hills in Central Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1995

DOI: 10.1071/BT9950025

Abstract: The environmental correlates of a mosaic of Acacia aneura F.Muell. ex Benth. shrublands and Triodia hummock grasslands on rolling conglomerate hills in central Australia were explored by indirect gradient analysis. A non-metric multidimension scaling ordination, based on the presence or absence of plant species, clearly separated the A. aneura shrubland from the Triodia hummock grassland there were few intermediate quadrats. The A. aneura shrublands occurred on relatively deeper skeletal soils than the Triodia hummock grasslands. Unlike unidirection successional gradients from frequently burnt, treeless vegetation to very infrequently burnt forest vegetation, the ordination presented here is unusual because the quadrats with the greatest cover of A. aneura and Triodia occur on the poles, and quadrats from the most recently burnt vegetation and with the least cover of A. aneura and Triodia occur in the centre of the ordination. Interpretation of aerial photography taken in 1950 and 1987 showed that there has been no statistically significant change in the coverage of these two communities over that time period. Some quadrats that contained Triodia on the boundary of A. aneura shrublands had numerous charred A. aneura stumps which was interpreted as indicating some retreat of the shrublands. Experimental studies are required to determine the stability of the current pattern. Biogeographic evidence, however, shows that the spatial distribution of both communities has fluctuated at a continental scale through geological time.

Late 20th century mangrove encroachment in the coastal Australian monsoon tropics parallels the regional increase in woody biomass

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 22-01-2011

DOI: 10.1007/S10113-010-0109-5

Bamboo, fire and flood: regeneration of Bambusa arnhemica (Bambuseae: Poaceae) after mass-flowering and die-off at contrasting sites in monsoonal northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2003

DOI: 10.1071/BT03014

Abstract: Bambusa arnhemica F.Muell., a long-lived, gregarious-flowering and semelparous bamboo endemic to north-western Australia, occurs in remarkably disparate but somewhat fire-sheltered flood-prone riparian forest and rocky hillside vine-thickets, but not in adjacent fire-prone savannas. We investigated the response of B. arnhemica seedlings to fire and flood at two contrasting sites over 2.5 years following a mass-flowering and die-off event. Seedlings grew vigorously notwithstanding either prolonged inundation or total loss of above-ground parts to fire within their first year. However, there was no evidence that such disturbance promoted regeneration, and several veins of evidence suggest that B. arnhemica is fire-retardant and refugial rather than fire-promoting. We suggest that creation of canopy gaps by parental death is a more parsimonious and generalisable hypothesis for the evolution of gregarious semelparity in bamboos than the recently advanced bamboo fire-cycle hypothesis. However, both hypotheses are potentially group selectionist, and resolution of dispersal distances and/or the spatial genetics of relatedness are required to resolve the problem.

Two-Dimensional MEMS Stage Integrated With Microlens Arrays for Laser Beam Steering

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Date: 02-2011

DOI: 10.1109/JMEMS.2010.2090507

Centennial-scale trends in the Southern Annular Mode revealed by hemisphere-wide fire and hydroclimatic trends over the past 2400 years

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 15-02-2018

DOI: 10.1130/G39661.1

Impact of Aboriginal landscape burning on woody vegetation in Eucalyptus tetrodonta savanna in Arnhem Land, northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-04-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2004.01077.X

The changing role of fire in conifer-dominated temperate rainforest through the last 14,000 years

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.QUASCIREV.2017.12.023

Fire ecology

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 04-2006

DOI: 10.1191/0309133306PP482PR

Do mixed fire regimes shape plant flammability and post-fire recovery strategies?

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 22-10-2018

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1030039

Abstract: The development of frameworks for better-understanding ecological syndromes and putative evolutionary strategies of plant adaptation to fire has recently received a flurry of attention, including a new model hypothesizing that plants have erged into three different plant flammability strategies due to natural selection. We provide three case studies of pyromes/taxa (Pinus, the Proteaceae of the Cape Floristic Region, and Eucalyptus) that, contrary to model assumptions, reveal that plant species often exhibit traits of more than one of these flammability and post-fire recovery strategies. We propose that such multiple-strategy adaptations have been favoured as bet-hedging strategies in response to selective pressure from mixed-fire regimes experienced by these species over evolutionary time.

Environmental hazards and behavior change: User perspectives on the usability and effectiveness of the airrater smartphone app

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 30-03-2021

DOI: 10.3390/IJERPH18073591

Abstract: AirRater is a free smartphone app developed in 2015, supporting in iduals to protect their health from environmental hazards. It does this by providing (i) location-specific and near real-time air quality, pollen and temperature information and (ii) personal symptom tracking functionality. This research sought to evaluate user perceptions of AirRater’s usability and effectiveness. We collected demographic data and completed semi-structured interviews with 42 AirRater users, identified emergent themes, and used two frameworks designed to understand and support behavior change—the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) and the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM)—to interpret results. Of the 42 participants, almost half indicated that experiencing symptoms acted as a prompt for app use. Information provided by the app supported a majority of the 42 participants to make decisions and implement behaviors to protect their health irrespective of their location or context. The majority of participants also indicated that they shared information provided by the app with family, friends and/or colleagues. The evaluation also identified opportunities to improve the app. Several study limitations were identified, which impacts the generalizability of results beyond the populations studied. Despite these limitations, findings facilitated new insights into motivations for behavior change, and contribute to the existing literature investigating the potential for smartphone apps to support health protection from environmental hazards in a changing climate.

Sign and habitat impact of banteng (Bos javanicus) and pig (Sus scrofa), Cobourg Peninsula, northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-1991

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1991.TB01477.X

Viewpoint Paper: On the elusive definition of 'Australian rainforest': response to Lynch and Neldner (2000)

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2001

DOI: 10.1071/BT00092

From desert to rainforest, sapwood width is similar in the widespread conifer Callitris columellaris

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 28-09-2012

DOI: 10.1007/S00468-012-0779-3

Effect of landscape fires on the demography of the endangered New Caledonian conifer Callitris sulcata

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOCON.2015.06.012

Plant Traits Demonstrate That Temperate and Tropical Giant Eucalypt Forests Are Ecologically Convergent with Rainforest Not Savanna

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 17-12-2013

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0084378

Conservation Biology for All

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780199554232.001.0001

A remarkable moment in Australian biogeography

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 27-03-2006

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2006.01699.X

The impact of Aboriginal landscape burning on the Australian biota

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-1998

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.1998.00289.X

Abstract: One of the most complex and contentious issues in Australian ecology concerns the environmental impact of Aboriginal landscape burning. This issue is not only important for the development of a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and evolution of the Australian biota, but is central to the formulation of appropriate strategies for the conservation of the nation's bio ersity. Ethnographic evidence leaves little doubt that Aboriginal burning played a central role in the maintenance of the landscapes subsequently colonized by Europeans. Both 19th century European colonists and anthropologists in the 20th century documented the indispensability of fire as a tool in traditional Aboriginal economies, which have aptly been described as ‘fire‐stick farming’. Aborigines used fire to achieve short‐term outcomes such as providing favourable habitats for herbivores or increasing the local abundance of food plants, but it is not clear whether or not Aborigines had a predictive ecological knowledge of the long‐term consequences of their use of fire. A large body of ecological evidence suggests that Aboriginal burning resulted in substantial changes in the geographic range and demographic structure of many vegetation types. Aboriginal burning was important in creating habitat mosaics that favoured the abundance of some mammal species and in the maintenance of infrequently burnt habitats upon which the survival of specialized fauna depends. Aboriginal fire regimes were probably critical for the maintenance of at least one species of tree ( Callitris intratropica ) in the monsoon tropics. The question of the original impact of humans on the Australian environment is fundamentally speculative because of vague, disputed time frames proposed for the waves of colonization and shifting settlement patterns of Aborigines in the late Quaternary period. There is an inherent circular argument concerning the cause and effect of climate change, vegetation change, and burning through the late Quaternary. Charcoal and pollen evidence from long sedimentary cores is ambiguous and cannot be used to demonstrate unequivocally the initial impact of Aboriginal people on the landscapes of Pleistocene Australia. The sparse available evidence does not support the hypotheses that Aboriginal burning was primarily responsible for the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna was critical for the maintenance of habitats of small mammals that have become extinct following European colonization initiated widespread accelerated soil erosion rates in either the Pleistocene or Holocene or forced the evolutionary ersification of the Australian biota. Burning may have caused the extinction of some fire‐sensitive species of plants and animals dependent upon infrequently burnt habitats, and it must have maintained structurally open vegetation such as grasslands and also extended the range of fire‐adapted species, such as Eucalyptus , into environments climatically suitable for rain forest. Palaeoecological research concerning prior impacts of Aborigines must give way to focused studies of the role of different anthropogenic fire regimes in contemporary ecosystems that have not been destroyed by European colonization. Such research is crucial for comprehending the role of Aboriginal burning in the maintenance of Australia's unique, rich bio ersity. CONTENTS Summary 385 I. Introduction 386 II. Aborigines and fire 386 III. Ecological perspectives 390 IV. Palaeoecological perspectives 394 V. General conclusions 404 Acknowledgements 405 References 405

Projecting canopy cover change in Tasmanian eucalypt forests using dynamically downscaled regional climate models

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 10-01-2014

DOI: 10.1007/S10113-013-0577-5

Regional and seasonal variation in airborne grass pollen levels between cities of Australia and New Zealand

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 29-07-2016

DOI: 10.1007/S10453-015-9399-X

Suppression of wildfires and ideas

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-04-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2003.01058.X

Leaf Axil Anatomy and Bud Reserves in 21 Myrtaceae Species from Northern Australia

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Date: 11-2008

DOI: 10.1086/591985

Wildfire national carbon accounting: how natural and anthropogenic landscape fires emissions are treated in the 2020 Australian government greenhouse gas accounts report to the UNFCCC

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 17-07-2023

DOI: 10.1186/S13021-023-00231-3

Abstract: Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting of emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry necessarily involves consideration of landscape fire. This is of particular importance for Australia given that natural and human fire is a common occurrence, and many ecosystems are adapted to fire, and require periodic burning for plant regeneration and ecological health. Landscape fire takes many forms, can be started by humans or by lightning, and can be managed or uncontrolled. We briefly review the underlying logic of greenhouse gas accounting involving landscape fire in the 2020 Australian Government GHG inventory report. The treatment of wildfire that Australia chooses to enact under the internationally agreed guidelines is based on two core assumptions (a) that effects of natural and anthropogenic fire in Australian vegetation carbon stocks are transient and they return to the pre-fire level relatively quickly, and (b) that historically and geographically anomalous wildfires in forests should be excluded from national anthropogenic emission estimates because they are beyond human control. It is now widely accepted that anthropogenic climate change is contributing to increased frequency and severity of forest fires in Australia, therefore challenging assumptions about the human agency in fire-related GHG emissions and carbon balance. Currently, the national inventory focuses on forest fires we suggest national greenhouse gas accounting needs to provide a more detailed reporting of vegetation fires including: (a) more detailed mapping of fire severity patterns (b) more comprehensive emission factors (c) better growth and recovery models from different vegetation types (d) improved understanding how fires of different severities affect carbon stocks and (e) improved analysis of the human agency behind the causes of emissions, including ignition types and fire-weather conditions. This more comprehensive accounting of carbon emissions would provide greater incentives to improve fire management practices that reduce the frequency, severity, and extent of uncontrolled landscape fires.

Quantifying the drivers of larval density patterns in two tropical mosquito species to maximize control efficiency

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 08-2009

DOI: 10.1603/022.038.0408

Abstract: Understanding the contributions of environmental variation and density feedbacks to changes in vector populations is essential for designing effective vector control. We analyzed monitoring datasets describing larval densities over 7 yr of the two dominant mosquito species, Aedes vigilax (Skuse) and Culex annulirostris (Skuse), of the greater Darwin area (Northern Territory, Australia). Using generalized linear and linear mixed-effects models, we tested hypotheses regarding the environmental determinants of spatio-temporal patterns in relative larval abundance in both species. The most important spatial drivers of Ae. vigilax and Cx. annulirostris larval densities were elevation and water presence. Ae. vigilax density correlates negatively with elevation, whereas there was a positive relationship between Cx. annulirostris density and elevation. These results show how larval habitats used by the saltwater-influenced breeder Ae. vigilax and the obligate freshwater breeder Cx. annulirostris are separated in a tidally influenced sw . The models examining temporal drivers of larval density also identified this discrimination between freshwater and saltwater habitats. Ae. vigilax larval densities were positively related to maximum tide height and high tide frequency, whereas Cx. annulirostris larval densities were positively related to elevation and rainfall. Adult abundance in the previous month was the most important temporal driver of larval densities in both species, providing a clear dynamical link between the two main life phases in mosquito development. This study shows the importance of considering both spatial and temporal drivers, and intrinsic population dynamics, when planning vector control strategies to reduce larval density, adult population density, and disease transmission effectively.

Slash-burning in the regeneration of dry eucalypt forests

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 1981

DOI: 10.1080/00049158.1981.10674302

Growth and survival of two north Australian relictual tree species, Allosyncarpia ternata (Myrtaceae) and Callitris intratropica (Cupressaceae)

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 30-06-2007

DOI: 10.1007/S11284-006-0011-2

Can trophic rewilding reduce the impact of fire in a more flammable world?

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 22-10-2018

DOI: 10.1098/RSTB.2017.0443

Abstract: Large vertebrates affect fire regimes in several ways: by consuming plant matter that would otherwise accumulate as fuel by controlling and varying the density of vegetation and by engineering the soil and litter layer. These processes can regulate the frequency, intensity and extent of fire. The evidence for these effects is strongest in environments with intermediate rainfall, warm temperatures and graminoid-dominated ground vegetation. Probably, extinction of Quaternary megafauna triggered increased biomass burning in many such environments. Recent and continuing declines of large vertebrates are likely to be significant contributors to changes in fire regimes and vegetation that are currently being experienced in many parts of the world. To date, rewilding projects that aim to restore large herbivores have paid little attention to the value of large animals in moderating fire regimes. Rewilding potentially offers a powerful tool for managing the risks of wildfire and its impacts on natural and human values. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Trophic rewilding: consequences for ecosystems under global change’.

The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the decline of obligate seeder forests

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 22-06-2016

DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12484

Patterns of long-term woody vegetation change in a sandstone-plateau savanna woodland, Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 15-07-2024

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467403001238

Abstract: Aerial photographs were used to assess changes in woody vegetation cover at 122 locations within a sandstone-plateau savanna woodland in the Victoria River region, Northern Territory, Australia. Despite locally variable vegetation responses, there has been little change in total woody vegetation cover since 1948. Thirty-three locations were also surveyed on the ground. It was found that sites for which vegetation cover had changed over the 50-y period were not significantly different from stable sites in terms of floristic composition, recent fire history, demographic stability among the dominant tree species, or edaphic setting. However, two of the dominant overstorey tree species – Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Eucalyptus phoenicea – showed significantly higher mortality on sites that had experienced vegetation cover decline since 1948. We suggest that observed changes in woody vegetation cover are a consequence of natural cycles of die-back and recovery of at least these two species in response to spatially heterogenous variables such as dry-season moisture stress. Although the widespread decline of fire-sensitive Callitris intratropica populations clearly indicates a historical shift from lower- to higher-intensity burning conditions within the study area, we reject the hypothesis of a landscape-wide process such as changing fire regimes or climatic change as the driving factor behind large-scale vegetation changes detected by aerial photographic analysis.

Differential demographic filtering by surface fires: How fuel type and fuel load affect sapling mortality of an obligate seeder savanna tree

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-07-2017

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12819

Soil moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils in western Tasmania

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2020

DOI: 10.1071/WF19196

Abstract: The present study aimed to determine moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils s led from various vegetation types at 63 locations in Tasmania, Australia. To observe whether the soil s le sustained smouldering combustion, moisture content was experimentally manipulated and heat was applied. Combustion was primarily determined by moisture content, but was also influenced by soil bulk density and organic content: the gravimetric moisture content corresponding to a 50% probability of burning ranged from 25 to 94% as organic content varied from 34 to 96%. There was no evidence of differences among vegetation types in the relationship between soil combustibility and organic content. Combustion in Tasmanian organic soils occurred with moisture levels similar to those reported elsewhere, despite differences in vegetation and environment. It was also found that a hand-held meter that measured volumetric moisture content using time domain reflectometry could be used to satisfactorily predict organic soil combustion. Finally, combining the data with estimates of volumetric soil moisture based on high-resolution gridded weather data (Bureau of Meteorology Atmospheric high-resolution Regional Reanalysis for Australia, or BARRA), it was demonstrated that most Tasmanian organic soils are likely to be combustible at some time almost every summer (December to February).

Renewal ecology: conservation for the Anthropocene

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 21-08-2017

DOI: 10.1111/REC.12560

Double-Differenced dNBR: Combining MODIS and Landsat Imagery to Map Fine-Grained Fire MOSAICS in Lowland Eucalyptus Savanna in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 03-10-2022

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE5050160

Abstract: A neglected dimension of the fire regime concept is fire patchiness. Habitat mosaics that emerge from the grain of burned and unburned patches (pyro ersity) are critical for the persistence of a erse range of plant and animal species. This issue is of particular importance in frequently burned tropical Eucalyptus savannas, where coarse fire mosaics have been hypothesized to have caused the recent drastic population declines of small mammals. Satellites routinely used for fire mapping in these systems are unable to accurately map fine-grained fire mosaics, frustrating our ability to determine whether declines in bio ersity are associated with local pyro ersity. To advance this problem, we have developed a novel method (we call ‘double-differenced dNBR’) that combines the infrequent (c. 16 days) detailed spatial resolution Landsat with daily coarse scale coverage of MODIS and VIIRS to map pyro ersity in the savannas of Kakadu National Park. We used seasonal Landsat mosaics and differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) to define burned areas, with a modification to dNBR that subtracts long-term average dNBR to increase contrast. Our results show this approach is effective in mapping fine-scale fire mosaics in the homogenous lowland savannas, although inappropriate for nearby heterogenous landscapes. Comparison of this methods to other fire metrics (e.g., area burned, seasonality) based on Landsat and MODIS imagery suggest this method is likely accurate and better at quantifying fine-scale patchiness of fire, albeit it demands detailed field validation.

Climate-induced variations in global wildfire danger from 1979 to 2013

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 14-07-2015

DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS8537

Abstract: Climate strongly influences global wildfire activity, and recent wildfire surges may signal fire weather-induced pyrogeographic shifts. Here we use three daily global climate data sets and three fire danger indices to develop a simple annual metric of fire weather season length, and map spatio-temporal trends from 1979 to 2013. We show that fire weather seasons have lengthened across 29.6 million km 2 (25.3%) of the Earth’s vegetated surface, resulting in an 18.7% increase in global mean fire weather season length. We also show a doubling (108.1% increase) of global burnable area affected by long fire weather seasons ( .0 σ above the historical mean) and an increased global frequency of long fire weather seasons across 62.4 million km 2 (53.4%) during the second half of the study period. If these fire weather changes are coupled with ignition sources and available fuel, they could markedly impact global ecosystems, societies, economies and climate.

Australian biogeography on fire

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-2002

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.2002.00692.X

Tertiary plant fossils from Australia's 'Top End'

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1996

DOI: 10.1071/SB9960113

Abstract: An assemblage of Tertiary plant fossils is described from Melville Island, Northern Territory, which is in the far north of Australia and currently experiences a monsoonal climate. The leaves examined included probable Cupressaceae, Proteaceae (Grevillea, and forms comparable with the Madagascan genus Dilobia) and Melaleuca (Myrtaceae). They indicate a non-rainforest community which probably had seasonal rainfall.

Response: A commentary on “Eucalyptus obliqua seedling growth in organic vs. mineral soil horizons”

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Date: 04-02-2016

DOI: 10.3389/FPLS.2016.00052

Continental-scale climatic drivers of growth ring variability in an Australian conifer

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 24-04-2011

DOI: 10.1007/S00468-011-0567-5

Paradise burnt: How colonizing humans transform landscapes with fire

Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Date: 30-11-2010

DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.1016393108

Variation in the composition and structure of tropical savannas as a function of rainfall and soil texture along a large‐scale climatic gradient in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-1996

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.1996.TB00036.X

Fire maintains an Acacia aneura shrubland-Triodia grassland mosaic in central Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2008

DOI: 10.1016/J.JARIDENV.2007.04.001

Bushfires, Human Health Economics, and Pyrogeography

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 23-07-2014

DOI: 10.1111/1745-5871.12065

Floristic uniformity across abrupt boundaries between Triodia hummock grassland and Acacia shrubland on an Australian desert sandplain

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2011

DOI: 10.1016/J.JARIDENV.2011.06.016

Wildfires: Australia needs national monitoring agency

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 12-08-2020

DOI: 10.1038/D41586-020-02306-4

Environmental Correlates of Tree Species Diversity in Stage III of Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1993

DOI: 10.1071/BT9930649

Abstract: A quadrat based survey that s led across the environmental range of the geologically and topographically erse Stage III of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, revealed that the region has a tree flora dominated by the family Myrtaceae, and the genus Eucalyptus in particular. Principal components analysis (PCA) defined three axes of environmental variation: site rockiness, site hydrology and surface soil clay content. The three PCA axes were ided into halves and a 2x2x2 matrix was created to classify eight environments however, there were quadrats in only seven of the eight possible environments. Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVAs showed that there was significant variation of the following variables between the 7 environments: total basal area, tree species richness, proportion tree richness composed of eucalypt species, and proportion of eucalypt richness composed of the four subgenera Blakella, Corymbia, Eudesmia and Symphyomyrtus. Of the most abundant 25 tree species and other common eucalypts only five species (Allosyncarpia ternata, Eucalyptus bigalerita, E. clavigera, E. foelscheana and E. jacobsiana) did not have significant differences in their mean basal area between the seven environments. The above patterns are interpreted as evidence that the savanna is a highly evolved system rather than the product of geologically recent disturbance to a once widespread monsoon rainforest.

Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonised the continent? Comments on 'A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative explanation' by S. Wroe and J. Field

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2007

DOI: 10.1016/J.QUASCIREV.2006.10.008

Forty years of lowland monsoon rainforest expansion in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2006

DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOCON.2006.03.002

Regional and seasonal variation in airborne grass pollen levels between cities of Australia and New Zealand

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 30-08-2013

DOI: 10.1111/IMJ.12252

Does low temperature cause the dominance of Acacia on the central Australian mountains? Evidence from a latitudinal gradient from 11° to 26° South in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-2002

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.1996.00981.X

Sandstone vegetation pattern in the Jim Jim Falls region, Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1990

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1990.TB01525.X

Conservation Biology for All

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780199554232.001.0001

Scats can reveal the presence and habitat use of cryptic rock-dwelling macropods

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2006

DOI: 10.1071/ZO05074

Abstract: The rock-dwelling macropod species of the tropics of the Northern Territory, Australia, are behaviourally elusive and difficult to observe in their rugged habitats. Hence, little is understood about their ecology. We evaluated the potential of using scats (faecal pellets) as a survey tool for this faunal assemblage by: (1) developing a key to the scats of the species (2) examining the rates of loss and decomposition of short-eared rock-wallaby (Petrogale brachyotis) scats in these tropical environments and (3) comparing the distribution of scats of P. brachyotis with the species’ use of space and habitats as determined with radio-telemetry. Classification tree modelling discriminated the scats of the seven macropod species, primarily on the basis of width. The reliability of identification was greatly improved with larger s le sizes and inclusion of a habitat parameter. Rates of scat loss and decay were variable and the greatest losses occurred in the wet season, particularly on sandy soils. Scat censuses underestimated the total area used by P. brachyotis but the distribution of scats showed the same broad pattern of habitat use found by radio-telemetry. We conclude that scats can accurately indicate the presence and habitat preferences of rock-dwelling macropod species.

The roles of statistical inference and historical sources in understanding landscape change: the case of feral buffalo in the freshwater floodplains of Kakadu National Park

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 18-08-2009

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2009.02244.X

Pleistocene divergence of two disjunct conifers in the eastern Australian temperate zone

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 13-09-2018

DOI: 10.1093/BIOLINNEAN/BLY127

Feral Pig (Sus Scrofa) Rooting in a Monsoon Forest-Wetland Transition, Northern Australia.

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1991

DOI: 10.1071/WR9910761

Abstract: A grid of 447 cells (each 50x50 m) was set up in a wet monsoon rain forest on a gradual slope above the Adelaide River floodplain in the Australian Northern Territory. Surveys of pig (Sus scrofa) rooting were carried out at approximately 3-month intervals from November 1988 to September 1989. The pigs had only limited effects on the forest in both the wet and dry seasons. The seasonally flooded sw communities (Melaleuca forest and sedgeland) were primarily exploited in the dry season dryland communities ([Eucalyptus] and Lophostemon forests) were exploited during the wet season. Rainfall during the previous wet season may have influenced the pattern of rooting in the dryland forests. Rooting and ground cover were weakly positively related in 3 out of the 4 surveys.

Establishment, Suppression and Growth of Eucalyptus delegatensis R.T. Baker in Multiaged Forests. I. The Effects of Fire on Mortality and Seedling Establishment

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1986

DOI: 10.1071/BT9860063

Abstract: In the dry uneven-aged eucalypt forests of central Tasmania the establishment of seedlings of Eucalyptus delegatensis requires a mitigation of the competition provided by the understorey, regeneration being observed to follow both fire and cultivation. Most of the adult trees of E. delegatensis survive even severe fires, although there can be considerable later mortality associated with mechanical failure of the base of the trunk. E. delegatensis dry forest usually has a distinctive sapling layer. Fire kills most of these saplings, the mortality rate being inversely related to their height and bark thickness.

Seasonal pollen distribution in the atmosphere of Hobart, Tasmania: preliminary observations and congruence with flowering phenology

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1071/BT10095

Abstract: The atmospheric pollen loads of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, were monitored between September 2007 and July 2009. To examine the match of the airborne pollen composition with the flowering duration of their contributing plants, the phenology of native and non-native plants in various habitats near the pollen-trapping site was undertaken between August 2008 and July 2009. The pollen load was found to have a strong seasonal component associated with the start of spring in September. This is incongruent with the peak flowering season of the total taxa in October. In most taxa, atmospheric pollen signatures appeared before flowering was observed in the field. The presence of most pollen types in the atmosphere also exceeded the observed flowering duration of potential pollen-source taxa. Reasons for this may be related to the s ling effort of phenological monitoring, pollen blown in from earlier flowering populations outside of the s ling area, the ability of pollen to be reworked, and the large pollen production of some wind-pollinated taxa. In 2007–2008, 15 pollen types dominated the atmosphere, accounting for 90% of the airborne pollen load. The top six pollen types belonged to Betula, Cupressaceae, Myrtaceae, Salix, Poaceae and Ulmus. Comparatively, the annual pollen load of Hobart is lower than in most other Australian cities however, the pollen signal of Betula is inordinately high. Native plants play a minor role as pollen contributors, despite the proximity of native habitats to the pollen-s ling location. The implications of the aerobiological observations are discussed in relation to public health.

Explaining the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions: Models, chronologies, and assumptions

Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Date: 04-11-2002

DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.232126899

Abstract: Understanding of the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions has been advanced recently by the application of simulation models and new developments in geochronological dating. Together these have been used to posit a rapid demise of megafauna due to over-hunting by invading humans. However, we demonstrate that the results of these extinction models are highly sensitive to implicit assumptions concerning the degree of prey naivety to human hunters. In addition, we show that in Greater Australia, where the extinctions occurred well before the end of the last Ice Age (unlike the North American situation), estimates of the duration of coexistence between humans and megafauna remain imprecise. Contrary to recent claims, the existing data do not prove the “blitzkrieg” model of overkill.

Fire futures for a megadiverse continent

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 17-09-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2012.04342.X

Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty by C.ERIKSEN, Routledge, New York, 2013, 186 pp, ISBN 978 0 4155 0270 2 (hardback) US$125

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 29-04-2015

DOI: 10.1111/1745-5871.12079

Post‐fire restoration of Sphagnum bogs in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-02-0009

DOI: 10.1111/REC.13797

Abstract: Sphagnum bogs in Australia are small, with a limited distribution, but of high conservation value. They are restricted to cool, wet environments that are typically fire free and are poorly adapted to recover from fire disturbance, unlike most Australian flora. Increased fire activity due to anthropogenic climate change is threatening Sphagnum bogs. This increased threat has stimulated interest in their restoration. Compared with the northern hemisphere, there have been few studies of the ecology of Sphagnum restoration in the southern hemisphere. Here, we report on a field experiment in Tasmania, in an area burned by an extensive fire in 2016. We investigated the role of shade, fertilizer and transplants, factors demonstrated to be important in the restoration of burnt bogs on the Australian mainland. Treatments commenced three to 4 years after the fire. Overall, we found that fire‐damaged Sphagnum recovers very slowly, and that there was no recovery in severely burned areas. The addition of shade increased recovery of damaged Sphagnum , but fertilizer was harmful, even to healthy Sphagnum . Transplants in fire‐killed Sphagnum grew poorly in both moderately and severely burnt Sphagnum areas. Our findings support the use of shading in post‐fire Sphagnum recovery projects, although further work is required to determine the optimal approach and duration of providing shade.

Conservative water management in the widespread conifer genus Callitris

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 13-11-2013

DOI: 10.1093/AOBPLA/PLT052

Did central Australian megafaunal extinction coincide with abrupt ecosystem collapse or gradual climate change?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 04-05-2011

DOI: 10.1111/J.1466-8238.2011.00668.X

Forest fire management, climate change, and the risk of catastrophic carbon losses

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-2013

DOI: 10.1890/13.WB.005

Environmental Relationships of Orange-footed ScrubfowlMegapodius reinwardtNests in the Northern Territory

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 09-1994

DOI: 10.1071/MU9940181

Reply to: Logging elevated the probability of high-severity fire in the 2019–20 Australian forest fires

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 14-04-2013

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-022-01716-Z

Smoke health costs and the calculus for wildfires fuel management: a modelling study

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2021

DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00198-4

Retreating Melaleuca swamp forests in Kakadu National Park: Evidence of synergistic effects of climate change and past feral buffalo impacts

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-11-2010

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2009.02096.X

Tree cover–fire interactions promote the persistence of a fire‐sensitive conifer in a highly flammable savanna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 04-04-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2745.2012.01970.X

Collaborative research on the ecology and management of the 'Wulo' monsoon rainforest in Wunambal Gaambera Country, North Kimberley, Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 05-10-2017

DOI: 10.3390/LAND6040068

Vegetation‐soil relations in the lowlands of south‐west Tasmania

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1986

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1986.TB01385.X

International consensus on allergy immunotherapy

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.JACI.2015.04.047

Abstract: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) has been used to treat allergic disease since the early 1900s. Despite numerous clinical trials and meta-analyses proving AIT efficacious, it remains underused and is estimated to be used in less than 10% of patients with allergic rhinitis or asthma worldwide. In addition, there are large differences between regions, which are not only due to socioeconomic status. There is practically no controversy about the use of AIT in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma, but for atopic dermatitis or food allergy, the indications for AIT are not well defined. The elaboration of a wider consensus is of utmost importance because AIT is the only treatment that can change the course of allergic disease by preventing the development of asthma and new allergen sensitizations and by inducing allergen-specific immune tolerance. Safer and more effective AIT strategies are being continuously developed both through elaboration of new allergen preparations and adjuvants and alternate routes of administration. A number of guidelines, consensus documents, or both are available on both the international and national levels. The international community of allergy specialists recognizes the need to develop a comprehensive consensus report to harmonize, disseminate, and implement the best AIT practice. Consequently, the International Collaboration in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, formed by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the World Allergy Organization, has decided to issue an international consensus on AIT.

Human-Imposed, Fine-Grained Patch Burning Explains the Population Stability of a Fire-Sensitive Conifer in a Frequently Burnt Northern Australia Savanna

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 30-03-2016

DOI: 10.1007/S10021-016-9973-2

A systematic review of the impacts and management of introduced deer (family Cervidae) in Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1071/WR16148

Abstract: Deer are among the world’s most successful invasive mammals and can have substantial deleterious impacts on natural and agricultural ecosystems. Six species have established wild populations in Australia, and the distributions and abundances of some species are increasing. Approaches to managing wild deer in Australia are erse and complex, with some populations managed as ‘game’ and others as ‘pests’. Implementation of cost-effective management strategies that account for this complexity is hindered by a lack of knowledge of the nature, extent and severity of deer impacts. To clarify the knowledge base and identify research needs, we conducted a systematic review of the impacts and management of wild deer in Australia. Most wild deer are in south-eastern Australia, but bioclimatic analysis suggested that four species are well suited to the tropical and subtropical climates of northern Australia. Deer could potentially occupy most of the continent, including parts of the arid interior. The most significant impacts are likely to occur through direct effects of herbivory, with potentially cascading indirect effects on fauna and ecosystem processes. However, evidence of impacts in Australia is largely observational, and few studies have experimentally partitioned the impacts of deer from those of sympatric native and other introduced herbivores. Furthermore, there has been little rigorous testing of the efficacy of deer management in Australia, and our understanding of the deer ecology required to guide deer management is limited. We identified the following six priority research areas: (i) identifying long-term changes in plant communities caused by deer (ii) understanding interactions with other fauna (iii) measuring impacts on water quality (iv) assessing economic impacts on agriculture (including as disease vectors) (v) evaluating efficacy of management for mitigating deer impacts and (vi) quantifying changes in distribution and abundance. Addressing these knowledge gaps will assist the development and prioritisation of cost-effective management strategies and help increase stakeholder support for managing the impacts of deer on Australian ecosystems.

Phosphorus limits Eucalyptus grandis seedling growth in an unburnt rain forest soil

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Date: 06-10-2014

DOI: 10.3389/FPLS.2014.00527

Variation in stem radial growth of the Australian conifer, Callitris columellaris, across the world's driest and least fertile vegetated continent

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 18-02-2012

DOI: 10.1007/S00468-012-0693-8

Future eating and country keeping: what role has environmental history in the management of biodiversity?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 05-2001

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.2001.00586.X

Postcards from the past: charting the landscape-scale conversion of tropical Australian savanna to closed forest during the 20th century

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 11-2006

DOI: 10.1007/S10980-006-0018-7

Demographic effects of severe fire in montane shrubland on tasmania’s central plateau

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 24-06-2021

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4030032

Abstract: Australian montane sclerophyll shrubland vegetation is widely considered to be resilient to infrequent severe fire, but this may not be the case in Tasmania. Here, we report on the vegetative and seedling regeneration response of a Tasmanian non-coniferous woody montane shrubland following a severe fire, which burned much of the Great Pine Tier in the Central Plateau Conservation Area during the 2018–2019 fire season when a historically anomalously large area was burned in central Tasmania. Our field survey of a representative area burned by severe crown fire revealed that more than 99% of the shrubland plants were top-killed, with only 5% of the burnt plants resprouting one year following the fire. Such a low resprouting rate means the resilience of the shrubland depends on seedling regeneration from aerial and soil seedbanks or colonization from plants outside the burned area. Woody species’ seedling densities were variable but generally low (25 m−2). The low number of resprouters, and reliance on seedlings for recovery, suggest the shrubland may not be as resilient to fire as mainland Australian montane shrubland, particularly given a warming climate and likely increase in fire frequency.

Letting giants be – rethinking active fire management of old‐growth eucalypt forest in the Australian tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 24-03-2014

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12233

Biomimicry can help humans to coexist sustainably with fire

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 05-11-2018

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-018-0712-2

Conflagrations and the Wisdom of Aboriginal Sacred Knowledge

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 24-11-2021

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4040088

Abstract: Australian Aboriginal cultures are globally recognised for using patchy and low intensity fires to sustainably manage landscapes and promote bio ersity [...]

A report of capture myopathy in the Tasmanian pademelon (Thylogale billardierii)

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 02-2013

DOI: 10.7120/09627286.22.1.001

Abstract: In Tasmania, a small island state of Australia, wildlife is under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities. Multiple species of native herbivores compete directly for resources with humans, such that wildlife populations are regularly managed to reduce their impact on agricultural and forestry landscapes. There is an increasing need to quantify the impacts of such wildlife management strategies on localised populations of Tasmania's iconic fauna. Gathering this information often requires capture and restraint of animals, but due to a paucity of published information on responses of wildlife to such techniques, regulatory bodies overseeing research do not always have complete information upon which to base decisions. In our study, the regulatory body designated manual restraint over chemical immobilisation as the preferred method, but current prescribed techniques can result in capture-related injuries including myopathy. To encourage dialogue on this welfare issue, we present observations on capture and restraint of the endemic Tasmanian pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) . Three of 19 animals that were trapped as part of a research study exhibited symptoms consistent with capture myopathy. Results suggest that techniques involved with capture and manual restraint can be problematic for pademelons, and we present recommendations for preventative measures, including chemical immobilisation, to limit myopathy-related deaths.

The macroecology of airborne pollen in Australian and New Zealand urban areas

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 29-05-2014

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0097925

Rainforests and Flame Forests: the Great Australian Forest Dichotomy

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-2000

DOI: 10.1111/1467-8470.00120

Establishment of two dry monsoon forest tree species on a fire‐protected monsoon forest‐savanna boundary, Cobourg Peninsula, northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1993

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1993.TB00448.X

Decline of Callitris intratropica R. T. Baker & H. G. Smith in the Northern Territory: Implications for Pre- and Post-European Colonization Fire Regimes

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 07-1993

DOI: 10.2307/2845586

Fuel Characteristics of Coastal Monsoon Forests, Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 09-1988

DOI: 10.2307/2845341

Biomass consumption by surface fires across Earth's most fire prone continent

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-11-2018

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14460

Abstract: Landscape fire is a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. Predicting biomass consumption by fire at large spatial scales is essential to understanding carbon dynamics and hence how fire management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase ecosystem carbon storage. An Australia-wide field-based survey (at 113 locations) across large-scale macroecological gradients (climate, productivity and fire regimes) enabled estimation of how biomass combustion by surface fire directly affects continental-scale carbon budgets. In terms of biomass consumption, we found clear trade-offs between the frequency and severity of surface fires. In temperate southern Australia, characterised by less frequent and more severe fires, biomass consumed per fire was typically very high. In contrast, surface fires in the tropical savannas of northern Australia were very frequent but less severe, with much lower consumption of biomass per fire (about a quarter of that in the far south). When biomass consumption was expressed on an annual basis, biomass consumed was far greater in the tropical savannas (>20 times that of the far south). This trade-off is also apparent in the ratio of annual carbon consumption to net primary production (NPP). Across Australia's naturally vegetated land area, annual carbon consumption by surface fire is equivalent to about 11% of NPP, with a sharp contrast between temperate southern Australia (6%) and tropical northern Australia (46%). Our results emphasise that fire management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should focus on fire prone tropical savanna landscapes, where the vast bulk of biomass consumption occurs globally. In these landscapes, grass biomass is a key driver of frequency, intensity and combustion completeness of surface fires, and management actions that increase grass biomass are likely to lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions from savanna fires.

Does inherent flammability of grass and litter fuels contribute to continental patterns of landscape fire activity?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 20-10-2016

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12889

Health impacts of ambient biomass smoke in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 07-05-2020

DOI: 10.3390/IJERPH17093264

Abstract: The island state of Tasmania has marked seasonal variations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations related to wood heating during winter, planned forest fires during autumn and spring, and bushfires during summer. Biomass smoke causes considerable health harms and associated costs. We estimated the historical health burden from PM2.5 attributable to wood heater smoke (WHS) and landscape fire smoke (LFS) in Tasmania between 2010 and 2019. We calculated the daily population level exposure to WHS- and LFS-related PM2.5 and estimated the number of cases and health costs due to premature mortality, cardiorespiratory hospital admissions, and asthma emergency department (ED) visits. We estimated 69 deaths, 86 hospital admissions, and 15 asthma ED visits, each year, with over 74% of impacts attributed to WHS. Average yearly costs associated with WHS were of AUD$ 293 million and AUD$ 16 million for LFS. The latter increased up to more than AUD$ 34 million during extreme bushfire seasons. This is the first study to quantify the health impacts attributable to biomass smoke for Tasmania. We estimated substantial impacts, which could be reduced through replacing heating technologies, improving fire management, and possibly implementing integrated strategies. This would most likely produce important and cost-effective health benefits.

Measurement of inter- and intra-annual variability of landscape fire activity at a continental scale: the Australian case

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Date: 03-2016

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035003

The use of Australian bioregions as spatial units of analysis to explore relationships between climate and songbird diversity

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2011

DOI: 10.1071/PC110354

Abstract: Biogeographers often investigate patterns of bio ersity at continental and global scales, using existing data georeferenced to a lattice of cells of latitude and longitude. Problems can arise with this approach when the available biological data are insufficient to adequately s le each cell and the cells are environmentally heterogeneous. An alternative, though less-often employed, approach is to use bioregions (defined as areas with distinctive biophysical environmental characteristics) as the basic s ling unit and to statistically control for unequal areas of regions. Here we applied this latter approach with the Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) to analyse continental patterns of songbird species richness in relation to mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, and mean wet season temperature, which are all predicted to substantially change given anthropogenic climate change. We used the Birds Australia database that has a large s le ( ,560,000) of distribution records covering Australia. For each of the 85 IBRAs, we determined the total number of songbird species and standardized these richness values accounting for the species-area effect by including the log of bioregion area as a covariate in the statistical models. Our analysis of standardized bioregion songbirds richness showed that the best supported model, based on information theory statistics included an interaction of mean annual temperature and precipitation (48.6% deviance explained). The fitted model showed declining richness with increasing temperature and declining precipitation, signalling that future climates may result in regional declines in songbird abundance. We suggest our simple empirical-statistical approach, using bioregions as the spatial unit, has promise for continental and global impact assessment of ersity changes and for conservation planning

Double-differenced dNBR: Combining MODIS and Landsat Imagery to Map Fine-grained Fire Mosaics in Lowland Eucalyptus savanna in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 09-2022

DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS202209.0011.V1

Abstract: A neglected dimension of the fire regime concept is fire patchiness. Habitat mosaics that emerge from the grain of burned and unburned patches (pyro ersity) are critical for the persistence of a erse range of plant and animal species. This issue is of particular importance in frequently burned tropical Eucalyptus savannas, where coarse fire mosaics have been hypothesized to have caused the recent drastic population declines of small mammals. Satellites routinely used for fire mapping in these systems are unable to accurately map fine-grained fire mosaics, frustrating our ability to determine whether declines in bio ersity are associated with local pyro ersity. To advance this problem, we have developed a novel method (we call & lsquo double-differenced dNBR& rsquo ) that combines the infrequent (c. bi-monthly) detailed spatial resolution Landsat with daily coarse scale coverage of MODIS and VIIRS to map pyro ersity in the savannas of Kakadu National Park. We used seasonal Landsat mosaics and differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) to define burned areas, with a modification to dNBR that subtracts long-term average dNBR to increase contrast. Our results show this approach is effective in mapping fine-scale fire mosaics in the homogenous lowland savannas, although inappropriate for nearby heterogenous landscapes. Comparison of this methods to other fire metrics (e.g., area burned, seasonality) based on Landsat and MODIS imagery suggest this method is likely accurate and better at quantifying fine-scale patchiness of fire, albeit it demands detailed field validation.

A comparison of foliar nutrient concentration in trees from monsoon rainforest and savanna in northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1995

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1995.TB00545.X

The Relationship between Particulate Pollution Levels in Australian Cities, Meteorology, and Landscape Fire Activity Detected from MODIS Hotspots

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 11-10-2012

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0047327

Fire‐driven loss of obligate seeder forests in the Alps

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-03-2018

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12602

Seasonal differences in leaf attributes in Australian tropical tree species: family and habitat comparisons

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 21-09-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.0269-8463.2004.00885.X

Australia's Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests need attention: : Research on this underappreciated Australian biome lags behind rainforest and savanna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-03-2019

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12724

Biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-2010

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2009.02210.X

What Do the Australian Black Summer Fires Signify for the Global Fire Crisis?

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 17-12-2021

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4040097

Abstract: The 2019–20 Australian fire season was heralded as emblematic of the catastrophic harm wrought by climate change. Similarly extreme wildfire seasons have occurred across the globe in recent years. Here, we apply a pyrogeographic lens to the recent Australian fires to examine the range of causes, impacts and responses. We find that the extensive area burnt was due to extreme climatic circumstances. However, antecedent hazard reduction burns (prescribed burns with the aim of reducing fuel loads) were effective in reducing fire severity and house loss, but their effectiveness declined under extreme weather conditions. Impacts were disproportionately borne by socially disadvantaged regional communities. Urban populations were also impacted through prolonged smoke exposure. The fires produced large carbon emissions, burnt fire-sensitive ecosystems and exposed large areas to the risk of bio ersity decline by being too frequently burnt in the future. We argue that the rate of change in fire risk delivered by climate change is outstripping the capacity of our ecological and social systems to adapt. A multi-lateral approach is required to mitigate future fire risk, with an emphasis on reducing the vulnerability of people through a reinvigoration of community-level capacity for targeted actions to complement mainstream fire management capacity.

Experimental comparison of aerial larvicides and habitat modification for controlling disease-carrying Aedes vigilax mosquitoes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-11-2012

DOI: 10.1002/PS.2317

Abstract: Microbial and insect-growth-regulator larvicides dominate current vector control programmes because they reduce larval abundance and are relatively environmentally benign. However, their short persistence makes them expensive, and environmental manipulation of larval habitat might be an alternative control measure. Aedes vigilax is a major vector species in northern Australia. A field experiment was implemented in Darwin, Australia, to test the hypotheses that (1) aerial microbial larvicide application effectively decreases Ae. vigilax larval presence, and therefore adult emergence, and (2) environmental manipulation is an effective alternative control measure. Generalised linear and mixed-effects modelling and information-theoretic comparisons were used to test these hypotheses. It is shown that the current aerial larvicide application c aign is effective at suppressing the emergence of Ae. vigilax, whereas vegetation removal is not as effective in this context. In addition, the results indicate that current larval s ling procedures are inadequate for quantifying larval abundance or adult emergence. This field-based comparison has shown that the existing larviciding c aign is more effective than a simple environmental management strategy for mosquito control. It has also identified an important knowledge gap in the use of larval s ling to evaluate the effectiveness of vector control strategies.

Experimental evidence that fire causes a tree recruitment bottleneck in an Australian tropical savanna

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 11-10-2010

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467410000362

Abstract: A fire-mediated recruitment bottleneck provides a possible explanation for the coexistence of trees and grasses in mesic savannas. The key element of this hypothesis is that saplings are particularly vulnerable to fire because they are small enough to be top-killed by grass fires, but unlike juveniles, they take several years to recover their original size. This limits the number of recruits into the adult size classes. Thus savanna vegetation may be maintained by a feedback whereby fire restricts the density of adult trees and allows a grass layer to develop, which provides fuel for subsequent fires. Here, we use results from a landscape-scale fire experiment in tropical Australia, to explore the possible existence of a recruitment bottleneck. This experiment compared tree recruitment and survival over 4 y under regimes of no fire, annual early and annual late dry-season fire. Stem mortality decreased with increasing stem height in the fire treatments but not in the unburnt treatment. Tree recruitment was 76–84% lower in the fire treatments than the unburnt treatment. Such fire-induced stem loss of saplings and reduced recruitment to the canopy layer in this eucalypt savanna are consistent with the predictions of the fire-mediated recruitment bottleneck hypothesis.

Ocean Beach, Tasmania: A swell-dominated shoreline reaches climate-induced recessional tipping point?

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.MARGEO.2019.106081

The legacy of pasture improvement causes recruitment failure in grassy eucalypt woodland conservation reserves in the Midlands of Tasmania

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2019

DOI: 10.1071/BT18222

Abstract: Australia’s most fragmented and least reserved landscapes are the grassy eucalypt woodlands of the south-east. Two hundred years of agricultural disruption have transformed these landscapes, and agricultural enterprises continue to expand and develop, meaning the threats to these landscapes have not abated. The Tasmanian Midlands is primarily privately owned, with very little area devoted to conservation of bio ersity. In this landscape, conservation covenants have been enacted on many private properties with the intention of encouraging tree recruitment and conservation of threatened plant communities and rare species. Evidence of the effectiveness of these covenants in protecting overstorey tree population health is lacking. This study compared the demographic structures of overstorey Eucalyptus species and midstorey tree genera on public and private properties with contrasting land use histories. Reserves on private lands had little tree recruitment, probably because exotic pasture species were common, whereas tree recruitment was abundant in public reserves, where pasture improvement has not occurred. Active measures are needed to restore ecological structure and function in grassy woodland conservation reserves on private land by encouraging regeneration of Eucalyptus and Acacia species as well as returning the ground layer to a functionally native state. This will entail reinstating fire disturbance, reducing exotic pasture species cover and managing domesticated, feral and native herbivores.

One equation fits overkill: why allometry underpins both prehistoric and modern body size-biased extinctions

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-04-2005

DOI: 10.1007/S10144-005-0213-4

Multi-decadal stability of woody cover in a mesic eucalypt savanna in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-03-2020

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12877

A multi-scale biogeographical analysis of Bambusa arnhemica, a bamboo from monsoonal northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 16-07-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2004.01129.X

The carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of Australian grasses in relation to climate

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-11-2009

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2435.2009.01576.X

Speleothem organic biomarkers trace last millennium fire history at near-annual resolution in northwestern Australia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-05-2023

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU23-5113

Abstract: Recent developments in speleothem science are showing their potential for paleofire reconstruction through a variety of inorganic and organic proxies including trace metals (1) and the pyrogenic organic compound levoglucosan (2). Previous work by Argiriadis et al. (2019) presented a method for the analysis of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes in stalagmites (3). These compounds reflect biogeochemical processes occurring at the land surface, in the soil, and in the cave. PAHs are primarily related to combustion of biomass while n-alkanes, with their potential for vegetation reconstruction (4), provide information on fuel availability and composition, as well as fire activity. These organic molecules are carried downward by infiltrating water and incorporated into speleothems (5), thereby creating the potential to serve as novel paleofire archives.Using this approach, we developed a high-resolution stalagmite record of paleofire activity from cave KNI-51 in tropical northwestern Australia. This site is well suited for high resolution paleofire reconstruction as bushfire activity in this tropical savanna is some of the highest on the continent, the cave is shallow and overlain by extremely thin soils, and the stalagmites are fast-growing (1-2 mm yr-1) and precisely dated. We analyzed three stalagmites which grew continuously in different time intervals through the last millennium - KNI-51-F (CE ~1100-1620), KNI-51-G (CE ~1320-1640), and KNI-51-11 (CE ~1750-2009). S les were drilled continuously at 1-3 mm resolution from stalagmite slabs, processed in a stainless-steel cleanroom to prevent contamination.Despite a difference in resolution between stalagmites KNI-51-F and -G, peaks in the target compounds show good replication in the overlapping time interval of the two stalagmites, and PAH abundances in a portion of stalagmite KNI-51-11 that grew from CE 2000-2009 are well correlated with satellite-mapped fires occurring proximally to the cave.Our results suggest an increase in the frequency of low intensity fire in the 20th century relative to much of the previous millennium. The timing of this shift is broadly coincident with the arrival of European pastoralists in the late 19th century and the subsequent displacement of Aboriginal peoples from the land. Aboriginal peoples had previously utilized & #8220 fire stick farming& #8221 , a method of prescribed, low intensity burning, that was an important influence of ecology, biomass, and fire. & Prior to the late 1800s, the period with the most frequent low intensity fire activity was the 13th century, the wettest interval of the entire record. Peak high intensity fire activity occurred during the 12th century.Controlled burn and irrigation experiments capable of examining the transmission of pyrogenic compounds from the land surface to cave dripwater represent the next step in this analysis. Given that karst is present in many fire-prone environments, and that stalagmites can be precisely dated and grow continuously for millennia, the potential utility of a stalagmite-based paleofire proxy is high.& & (1) L.K. McDonough et al., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 325, 258& #8211 (2022).(2) J. Homann et al., Nat. Commun., 13:7175 (2022).(3) E. Argiriadis et al., Anal. Chem. 91, 7007& #8211 (2019).(4) R.T. Bush, F. A. McInerney, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 117, 161& #8211 (2013).(5) Y. Sun et al., Chemosphere. 230, 616& #8211 (2019).

Climate Change Amplifications of Climate‐Fire Teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 28-05-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078294

Conservation of coastal wetlands of the Northern territory of Australia: The Mary River floodplain

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 1990

DOI: 10.1016/0006-3207(90)90119-A

Age and growth of a fire prone Tasmanian temperate old-growth forest stand dominated by Eucalyptus regnans, the world's tallest angiosperm

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2010

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2010.04.037

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture in the Wet Coastal Lowlands of Papua New Guinea: Response of Birds, Butterflies and Reptiles

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 05-1990

DOI: 10.2307/2845121

Population structures of the widespread Australian conifer Callitris columellaris are a bio-indicator of continental environmental change

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2011

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2011.03.030

Environmental Determinants of Allosyncarpia ternata Forests That Are Endemic to Western Arnhem Land, Northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1991

DOI: 10.1071/BT9910575

Abstract: Allosyncarpia ternata S. T. Blake dominates closed forests on rugged sandstone escarpments on the western edge of the Arnhem Land Plateau, northern Australia. The forests occur in a floristic continuum between fire-protected wet monsoon forests in the base of canyons and frequently burnt, eucalyptdominated savannas that occur in all other topographic positions. An indirect gradient analysis of 69 quadrats from these three vegetation types at six different localities showed that no measured edaphic variable was correlated with this floristic transition. A detailed study of a single patch of Allosyncarpia on level terrain with rock-free, sandy soils showed that Allosyncarpia trees occur on sites with significantly deeper soils and higher concentrations of available K in the surface soil compared to surrounding eucalypt savannas. However, there was no significant difference in dry season surface soil moisture content between these communities. There is also evidence that there is no significant difference in subsoil moisture supply. Xylem pressure potential of Callitris intratropica (which is equally abundant in both Allosyncarpia and eucalypt communities) was found to be statistically similar at the beginning and end of the dry season. The Allosyncarpia forest was made up of a mosaic ranging from stands co-dominated by savanna species with grassy understoreys to stands co-dominated by monsoon forest species with dense understoreys. No measured environmental factors were significantly related to the patterning of these stands within the forest. Seed throw of Allosyncarpia is limited to several metres from the canopy edge and seedlings were only observed beneath the canopy. Field experiments demonstrated that seedling survival in the savanna can be enhanced by the provision of shade, and nursery experiments demonstrated that the growth of seedlings provided with le water is suppressed by full sunlight. Dry season fires in grass fuels ranging from 2 to 8 t ha-1 were found to be lethal to seedlings mm tall. Although most Allosyncarpia trees recover following fire damage, the present distribution of the species may be best explained as a consequence of wildfires. However, there is need for confirmation that the species range is contracting under current fire regimes. This is probably best derived by analysis of existing remote sensing data.

Fire regime and vegetation change in the transition from Aboriginal to European land management in a Tasmanian eucalypt savanna

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1071/BT16032

Abstract: Using pollen and charcoal analysis we examined how vegetation and fire regimes have changed over the last 600 years in the Midlands of Tasmania. Sediment cores from seven lagoons were s led, with a chronology developed at one site (Diprose Lagoon) using 210Pb and 14C dating. Statistical contrasts of six cores where Pinus served as a marker of European settlement in the early 19th Century and showed significant changes in pollen composition following settlement with (a) influx of ruderal exotic taxa including Plantago lanceolata L., Brassicaceae, Asteraceae (Liguliflorae) and Rumex, (b) increase in pollen of the aquatics Myriophyllum spp. and Cyperaceae, (c) a decline in native herbaceous pollen taxa, including Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae (Tubuliflorae) and (d) a decline in Allocasuarina and an initial decline and then increase of Poaceae. The presence of Asteraceae (Liguliflorae) in the pre-European period suggests that an important root vegetable Microseris lanceolata (Walp.) Sch.Bip. may have been abundant. Charcoal deposition was low in the pre-European period and significantly increased immediately after European arrival. Collectively, these changes suggest substantial ecological impacts following European settlement including cessation of Aboriginal traditions of fire management, a shift in hydrological conditions from open water lagoons to more ephemeral herb covered lagoons, and increased ersity of alien herbaceous species following pasture establishment.

Using a natural experiment to foresee the fate of boreal carbon stores

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-08-2020

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15214

A transect study of the Eucalyptus forests and woodlands of a dissected sandstone and laterite plateau near Darwin, Northern Territory

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-1987

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1987.TB00955.X

Factors that Control Monsoon-Rainforest Seedling Establishment and Growth in North Australian Eucalyptus Savanna

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 06-1993

DOI: 10.2307/2261499

Distribution and abundance of large herbivores in a northern Australian tropical savanna: A multi-scale approach

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 31-03-2020

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12860

Climate seasonality limits leaf carbon assimilation and wood productivity in tropical forests

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 28-04-2016

DOI: 10.5194/BG-13-2537-2016

Abstract: Abstract. The seasonal climate drivers of the carbon cycle in tropical forests remain poorly known, although these forests account for more carbon assimilation and storage than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Based on a unique combination of seasonal pan-tropical data sets from 89 experimental sites (68 include aboveground wood productivity measurements and 35 litter productivity measurements), their associated canopy photosynthetic capacity (enhanced vegetation index, EVI) and climate, we ask how carbon assimilation and aboveground allocation are related to climate seasonality in tropical forests and how they interact in the seasonal carbon cycle. We found that canopy photosynthetic capacity seasonality responds positively to precipitation when rainfall is 2000 mm yr−1 (water-limited forests) and to radiation otherwise (light-limited forests). On the other hand, independent of climate limitations, wood productivity and litterfall are driven by seasonal variation in precipitation and evapotranspiration, respectively. Consequently, light-limited forests present an asynchronism between canopy photosynthetic capacity and wood productivity. First-order control by precipitation likely indicates a decrease in tropical forest productivity in a drier climate in water-limited forest, and in current light-limited forest with future rainfall 2000 mm yr−1.

Holocene boundary dynamics of a northern Australian monsoon rainforest patch inferred from isotopic analysis of carbon, (¹⁴C and δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) in soil orga

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2004.01394.X

Why do evergreen trees dominate the Australian seasonal tropics?

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2005

DOI: 10.1071/BT05022

Abstract: The northern Australian woody vegetation is predominantly evergreen despite an intensely seasonal climate and a ersity of deciduous species in the regional flora. From a global climatic perspective the dominance of evergreen rather than deciduous trees in the Australian savannas is apparently anomalous when compared with other savannas of the world. However, this pattern is not unexpected in light of existing theory that emphasises photosynthetic return relative to cost of investment between deciduous and evergreen species. (a) Climatically, monsoonal Australia is more extreme in terms of rainfall seasonality and variability and high air temperatures than most other parts of the seasonally dry tropics. Existing theory predicts that extreme variability and high temperatures favour evergreen trees that can maximise the period during which leaves assimilate CO2. (b) Soil infertility is known to favour evergreens, given the physiological cost of leaf construction, and the northern Australian vegetation grows mainly on deeply weathered and infertile Tertiary regoliths. (c) These regoliths also provide stores of ground water that evergreens are able to exploit during seasonal drought, thereby maintaining near constant transpiration throughout the year. (d) Fire disturbance appears to be an important secondary factor in explaining the dominance of evergreens in the monsoon tropics, based on the fact that most deciduous tree species of the region are restricted to small fire-protected sites. (e) Evolutionary history cannot explain the predominance of evergreens, given the existence of a wide range of deciduous species, including deciduous eucalypts, in the regional tree flora.

Current and future threats from non-indigenous animal species in northern Australia: a spotlight on World Heritage Area Kakadu National Park

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2007

DOI: 10.1071/WR06056

Abstract: Non-indigenous animal species threaten bio ersity and ecosystem stability by damaging or transforming habitats, killing or out-competing native species and spreading disease. We use World Heritage Area Kakadu National Park, northern Australia, as a focal region to illustrate the current and potential threats posed by non-indigenous animal species to internationally and nationally recognised natural and cultural values. Available evidence suggests that large feral herbivores such as Asian sw buffalo, pigs and horses are the most ecologically threatening species in this region. This may reflect the inherent research bias, because these species are highly visible and impact primary production consequently, their control has attracted the strongest research and management efforts. Burgeoning threats, such as the already established cane toad and crazy ant, and potentially non-indigenous freshwater fish, marine invertebrates and pathogens, may cause severe problems for native bio ersity. To counter these threats, management agencies must apply an ongoing, planned and practical approach using scientifically based and well funded control measures however, many stakeholders require direct evidence of the damage caused by non-indigenous species before agreeing to implement control. To demonstrate the increasing priority of non-indigenous species research in Australia and to quantify taxonomic and habitat biases in research focus, we compiled an extensive biography of peer-reviewed articles published between 1950 and 2005. Approximately 1000 scientific papers have been published on the impact and control of exotic animals in Australia, with a strong bias towards terrestrial systems and mammals. Despite the sheer quantity of research on non-indigenous species and their effects, management responses remain largely ad hoc and poorly evaluated, especially in northern Australia and in high-value areas such as Kakadu National Park. We argue that improved management in relatively isolated and susceptible tropical regions requires (1) robust quantification of density–damage relationships, and (2) the delivery of research findings that stimulate land managers to develop cost-effective control and monitoring programs.

On the delineation of tropical vegetation types with an emphasis on forest/savanna transitions

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 03-2013

DOI: 10.1080/17550874.2012.762812

Impact of high-severity fire in a Tasmanian dry eucalypt forest

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1071/BT15259

Abstract: Dry eucalypt forests are believed to be highly fire tolerant, but their response to fire is not well quantified. We measured the effect of high-severity fires in dry eucalypt forest in the Tasmanian Midlands, the driest region on the island. We compared stand structures and fuel loads in long-unburnt ( years since fire) and recently burnt ( years since fire) sites that had been completely defoliated. Even in unburnt plots, 37% of eucalypt stems and 56% of acacia stems ≥5 cm in diameter were dead, possibly because of antecedent drought. The density of live eucalypt stems was 37% lower overall in burnt than in unburnt plots, compared with 78% lower for acacias. Whole-plant mortality caused by fire was estimated at 25% for eucalypt trees and 33% for acacias. Fire stimulated establishment of both eucalypt and acacia seedlings, although some seedlings and saplings were present in long-unburnt plots. The present study confirmed that eucalypts in dry forests are more tolerant of fire than the obligate seeder eucalypts in wet forests. However, there were few live mature stems remaining in some burnt plots, suggesting that dry eucalypt forests could be vulnerable to increasingly frequent, severe fires.

When will the jungle burn?

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 05-2017

DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE3284

Monsoon Forests in Northwestern Australia I. Vegetation Classification and the Environmental Control of Tree Species

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 11-1991

DOI: 10.2307/2845549

Simulating the effectiveness of prescribed burning at altering wildfire behaviour in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2018

DOI: 10.1071/WF17061

Abstract: Prescribed burning is a widely accepted wildfire hazard reduction technique however, knowledge of its effectiveness remains limited. To address this, we employ simulations of a widely used fire behaviour model across the ecologically erse Australian island state of Tasmania. We simulate three broad scenarios: (1) no fuel treatment, (2) a maximal treatment, with the most possible prescribed burning within ecological constraints, and (3) 12 hypothetically more implementable state-wide prescribed-burning plans. In all simulations, we standardised fire-weather inputs to represent regionally typical dangerous fire-weather conditions. Statistical modelling showed that an unrealistically large maximal treatment scenario could reduce fire intensity in three flammable vegetation types, and reduce fire probability in almost every vegetation type. However, leverage analysis of the 12 more-realistic implementable plans indicated that such prescribed burning would have only a minimal effect, if any, on fire extent and that none of these prescribed-burning plans substantially reduced fire intensity. The study highlights that prescribed burning can theoretically mitigate wildfire, but that an unrealistically large area would need to be treated to affect fire behaviour across the island. Rather, optimisation of prescribed burning requires careful landscape design at the local scale. Such designs should be based on improved fire behaviour modelling, empirical measurement of fuels and analysis of actual wildfires.

Feedbacks and landscape-level vegetation dynamics

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2015.03.005

Abstract: Alternative stable-state theory (ASS) is widely accepted as explaining landscape-level vegetation dynamics, such as switches between forest and grassland. This theory argues that webs of feedbacks stabilise vegetation composition and structure, and that abrupt state shifts can occur if stabilising feedbacks are weakened. However, it is difficult to identify stabilising feedback loops and the disturbance thresholds beyond which state changes occur. Here, we argue that doing this requires a synthetic approach blending observation, experimentation, simulation, conceptual models, and narratives. Using forest boundaries and large mammal extinctions, we illustrate how a multifaceted research program can advance understanding of feedback-driven ecosystem change. Our integrative approach has applicability to other complex macroecological systems controlled by numerous feedbacks where controlled experimentation is impossible.

Australian forests, megafires and the risk of dwindling carbon stocks

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 29-10-2021

DOI: 10.1111/PCE.13916

Effects of fire history on the structure and floristic composition of woody vegetation around Kalumburu, North Kimberley, Australia: a landscape-scale natural experiment

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2004

DOI: 10.1071/BT03156

Abstract: Indigenous landscape burning is practiced around remote communities in the Kimberleys but has been replaced by wildfires across uninhabited areas. A landscape-scale natural experiment was established to investigate the effects of these different fire histories (derived from a 10-year Landsat remote-sensing sequence) on the floristic structure and composition of woody vegetation within and among three of the major vegetation types on three landscape types (sandplain, sandstone and volcanics) near Kalumburu in the North Kimberley bioregion.Substrate factors determine vegetation and associated fire patterns within the landscape such that each landscape type needs to be examined independently. Basalt soils are dominated by an open savanna and tend to have very high fire frequencies. Basalt vegetation showed few significant response variables to fire-history parameters. The total density of woody stems showed no significant relationship to fire-history variables, regardless of size class. The 0–2.0-m size class of Erythrophleum chlorostachys (F.Muell.) Baillon showed significant (P 0.005) responses to the various interactions involving all three fire-history variables, indicating that seedling density is sensitive to fire.Sandplain is dominated by open woodland, with relatively low fire frequency. Total stem density, shrub density and the densities of Grevillea agrifolia Cunn. Ex R.Br., Canthium sp. A and Stenocarpus cunninghamii R.Br. showed strong positive (P 0.005) relationships with the total number of fire-free months. In sandstone, the density of all woody stems, acacias and a range of mid-storey trees showed significant positive relationships with the total number of fire-free months. Other species showed strong relationships with the number of late dry season fires. Vegetation thickening was evident in sand environments through the accumulation of woody stems in fire-free years and in sandstone through the promotion of 'fireweeds' such as Acacia gonocarpa F.Muell. after fire events.Mid-storey tree species capable of resprouting after fire showed some evidence of structural suppression in response to frequent fire events, including Planchonia careya (F.Muell.) Knuth, Persoonia falcata R.Br. and Buchanania obovata Engl.Results are discussed in the context of indigenous landscape burning and bio ersity conservation.

Effects of individual fire events on the flower production of fruit-bearing tree species, with reference to Aboriginal people's management and use, at Kalumburu, North Kimberley, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2004

DOI: 10.1071/BT03157

Abstract: This study used a number of landscape-scale natural experiments to investigate the influence of in idual fire events on the reproductive output of key fruit-bearing woody species [Buchanania obovata Engl. (two leaf forms), Persoonia falcata R.Br., Planchonia careya (F.Muell.) Knuth, Syzygium eucalyptoides (F.Muell.) B.Hyland, Syzygium suborbiculare (Benth.) T.Hartley & Perry. and Terminalia cunninghamii C.Gardner] around Kalumburu, North Kimberley, Australia. Flowering level was used as an estimate of reproductive success as s ling was done prior to fruit development.Terminalia cunninghamii was found to flower earlier and more prolifically in areas burnt in the early dry season of 1999 than in areas left unburnt however, there was no significant difference between these treatments in 2000. Flowering levels were significantly reduced in burnt treatments (from early to mid-dry season fires) for Buchanania obovata (large-leafed form), Persoonia falcata, Planchonia careya, Syzygium eucalyptoides and Syzygium suborbiculare. Positive correlations occurred between the minimum foliage height and total tree height of Buchanania obovata small-leafed form (r = 0.78, y = 0.61x + 0.003), large-leafed form (r = 0.87, y = 0.59x + 0.10) and Syzygium suborbiculare (r = 0.76, y = 0.43x + 0.54). Above a height of 2 m, most trees have the majority of their foliage located in the top half of the tree. In all cases, flowering levels increased with foliage height intervals.The results indicate that fire events and their timing can have an impact on the reproductive cycle of fruit-tree species. Indigenous people have managed these resources through the careful use of fire. The conservation of fruit-tree species and frugivorous-animal species could benefit from (i) the careful management of areas with high densities of fruit-bearing species, and (ii) spatially and temporally erse fire regimes across broader landscape units.

Can Air Quality Management Drive Sustainable Fuels Management at the Temperate Wildland–Urban Interface?

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 09-08-2018

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1020027

Abstract: Sustainable fire management has eluded all industrial societies. Given the growing number and magnitude of wildfire events, prescribed fire is being increasingly promoted as the key to reducing wildfire risk. However, smoke from prescribed fires can adversely affect public health. We propose that the application of air quality standards can lead to the development and adoption of sustainable fire management approaches that lower the risk of economically and ecologically damaging wildfires while improving air quality and reducing climate-forcing emissions. For ex le, green fire breaks at the wildland–urban interface (WUI) can resist the spread of wildfires into urban areas. These could be created through mechanical thinning of trees, and then maintained by targeted prescribed fire to create bio erse and aesthetically pleasing landscapes. The harvested woody debris could be used for pellets and other forms of bioenergy in residential space heating and electricity generation. Collectively, such an approach would reduce the negative health impacts of smoke pollution from wildfires, prescribed fires, and combustion of wood for domestic heating. We illustrate such possibilities by comparing current and potential fire management approaches in the temperate and environmentally similar landscapes of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada and the island state of Tasmania in Australia.

Cultural legacies, fire ecology, and environmental change in the Stone Country of Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park, Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 04-01-2013

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.460

Response of Eucalyptus Forest and Woodland to Four Fire Regimes at Munmarlary, Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 03-1988

DOI: 10.2307/2260465

Supplementary material to "Climate seasonality limits carbon assimilation and storage in tropical forests"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 18-01-2016

DOI: 10.5194/BG-2015-619-SUPPLEMENT

Ecology of Callitris glaucophylla (Cupressaceae) on the Macdonnell Ranges, Central Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1993

DOI: 10.1071/BT9930217

Abstract: A geographic survey of 17 stands of Callitris glaucophylla on the MacDonnell Ranges, in central Australia, revealed that the pine occurs on sites ranging from flat, sandy creek beds to rocky, north or south facing slopes, with the majority of the s led stands occurring on steep (35°) south-facing slopes. A quadrat based (n=100) floristic survey on an outlying ridge from the MacDonnell Ranges also showed that C. glaucophylla has a wide ecological niche, although the species had a significantly negative association with sites that lacked boulders ( 0.5 m diameter) and significantly positively associated with south-facing slopes. The widespread occurrence of dead C. glaucophylla stems and the lack of associated regeneration indicate that species distribution is currently contracting. We suggest that the fragmentary distribution of the species is strongly controlled by wildfire.

Do feral buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) explain the increase of woody cover in savannas of Kakadu National Park, Australia?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-10-2008

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2008.01934.X

Can smartphone data identify the local environmental drivers of respiratory disease?

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2020.109118

Genetic structure of introduced swamp buffalo subpopulations in tropical Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 30-03-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2012.02373.X

A grass–fire cycle eliminates an obligate‐seeding tree in a tropical savanna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-10-2014

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.1285

Book Reviews

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1989

DOI: 10.1111/J.1523-1739.1989.TB00075.X

River Flows Are a Reliable Index of Forest Fire Risk in the Temperate Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 30-04-2021

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4020022

Abstract: Fire risk can be defined as the probability that a fire will spread across a landscape, that therefore determines the likely area burnt by a wildfire. Reliable monitoring of fire risk is essential for effective landscape management. Compilation of fire risk records enable identification of seasonal and inter-annual patterns and provide a baseline to evaluate the trajectories in response to climate change. Typically, fire risk is estimated from meteorological data. In regions with sparse meteorological station coverage environmental proxies provide important additional data source for estimating past and current fire risk. Here, we use a 60-year record of daily flows (ML day−1 past a fixed-point river gauge) from two rivers (Franklin and Davey) in the remote Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) to characterize seasonal patterns in fire risk in temperate Eucalyptus forests and rainforests. We show that river flows are strongly related to landscape soil moisture estimates derived from down-scaled re-analysis of meteorological data available since 1990. To identify river flow thresholds where forests are likely to burn, we relate river flows to known forest fires that have occurred in the previously defined ecohydrological domains that surround the Franklin and Davey catchments. Our analysis shows that the fire season in the TWWHA is centered on February (70% of all years below the median river flow threshold), with shoulders on December-January and March. Since 1954, forest fire can occur in at least one month for all but four summers in the ecohydrological domain that includes the Franklin catchment, and since 1964 fire could occur in at least one month in every summer in the ecohydrological domain that includes the Davey catchment. Our analysis shows that managers can use river flows as a simple index that indicates landscape-scale forest fire risk in the TWWHA.

Is Anthropogenic Pyrodiversity Invisible in Paleofire Records?

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 18-07-2019

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE2030042

Abstract: Paleofire studies frequently discount the impact of human activities in past fire regimes. Globally, we know that a common pattern of anthropogenic burning regimes is to burn many small patches at high frequency, thereby generating landscape heterogeneity. Is this type of anthropogenic pyro ersity necessarily obscured in paleofire records because of fundamental limitations of those records? We evaluate this with a cellular automata model designed to replicate different fire regimes with identical fire rotations but different fire frequencies and patchiness. Our results indicate that high frequency patch burning can be identified in tree-ring records at relatively modest s ling intensities. However, standard methods that filter out fires represented by few trees systematically biases the records against patch burning. In simulated fire regime shifts, fading records, s le size, and the contrast between the shifted fire regimes all interact to make statistical identification of regime shifts challenging without other information. Recent studies indicate that integration of information from history, archaeology, or anthropology and paleofire data generate the most reliable inferences of anthropogenic patch burning and fire regime changes associated with cultural changes.

Late 20th century landscape-wide expansion of Allosyncarpia ternata (Myrtaceae) forests in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2006

DOI: 10.1071/BT05202

Abstract: Allosyncarpia ternata S.T.Blake is a large tree endemic to the rugged western edge of the Arnhem Land Plateau, northern Australia, with most of the species conserved in Kakadu National Park (KNP). A. ternata stems suffer substantial mortality following wildfire but the species resprouts prolifically from root stocks. Nonetheless, there is concern about the persistence of A. ternata rainforest patches following breakdown of traditional Aboriginal landscape burning that generated a mosaic of burnt and unburnt areas. Generalised linear modelling was used to identify the landscape features associated with the fragmentary distribution of A. ternata rainforest. We randomly s led 12 areas that together made up 12.6% of the total coverage of A. ternata in KNP (12 191 ha) that spanned the geographic range of this vegetation type within the Park. The modelling of these data showed that A. ternata forests were most likely to occur at sites with fire protection, as inferred from the small number of fire scars apparent on sequences of satellite imagery, steep slope angles and proximity to drainage lines. Analysis of historical aerial photography revealed that, despite considerable negative and positive variation, there has been a 21% expansion of A. ternata forests over the last 50 years. Expansion occurred by incremental growth from existing forest boundaries and not by nucleation, reflecting the poor seed dispersal of the tree. The forest expansion was negatively correlated with fire activity. A regionally wetter climate since the mid-20th century may be an important cause of the expansion despite currently unfavourable fire regimes.

Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 23-07-2009

DOI: 10.1007/S00442-009-1395-9

Abstract: The persistence of mesic savannas has been theorised as being dependent on disturbances that restrict the number of juveniles growing through the sapling size class to become fire-tolerant trees. We analysed the population structures of four dominant tropical savanna tree species from 30 locations in Kakadu National Park (KNP), northern Australia. We found that across KNP as a whole, the population size structures of these species do not exhibit recruitment bottlenecks. However, in idual stands had multimodal size-class distributions and mixtures of tree species consistent with episodic and in idualistic recruitment of co-occurring tree species. Using information theory and multimodel inference, we examined the relative importance of fire frequency, stand basal area and elevation difference between a site and permanent water in explaining variations in the proportion of sapling to adult stems in four dominant tree species. This showed that the proportion of the tree population made up of saplings was negatively related to both fire frequencies and stand basal area. Overall, fire frequency has density-dependent effects in the regulation of the transition of saplings to trees in this Australian savanna, due to interactions with stem size, regeneration strategies, growth rates and tree-tree competition. Although stable at the regional scale, the spatiotemporal variability of fire can result in structural and floristic ersity of savanna tree populations.

Detecting, Monitoring and Foreseeing Wildland Fire Requires Similar Multiscale Viewpoints as Meteorology and Climatology

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 17-04-2023

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE6040160

Abstract: Achieving sustainable coexistence with wildfires in the Anthropocene requires skilful integrated fire observations, fire behaviour predictions, forecasts of fire risk, and projections of change to fire climates. The erse and multiscale approaches used by the atmospheric sciences, to understand geographic patterns, temporal trends and likely trajectories of weather and climate, provide a role model for how multiscale assessments of fire danger can be formulated and delivered to fire managers, emergency responders and at-risk communities. Adaptation to escalating risk of fire disasters requires specialised national agencies, like weather services, that provide to provide a erse range of products to enable detection and near and longer-range prediction of landscape fire activity.

Using digital technology to protect health in prolonged poor air quality episodes: A case study of the airrater app during the australian 2019–20 fires

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 04-08-2020

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE3030040

Abstract: In the southern hemisphere summer of 2019–20, Australia experienced its most severe bushfire season on record. Smoke from fires affected 80% of the population, with large and prolonged exceedances of the Australian National Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) recorded in all major population centers. We examined if AirRater, a free smartphone app that reports air quality and tracks user symptoms in near real-time, assisted those populations to reduce their smoke exposure and protect their health. We distributed an online survey to over 13,000 AirRater users to assess how they used this information during the 2019–20 bushfire season, and why it was helpful to aid decision-making in reducing personal smoke exposure. We received responses from 1732 users (13.3%). Respondents reported the app was highly useful, supporting informed decision-making regarding daily activities during the smoke-affected period. Commonly reported activities supported by information provided through the app were staying inside (76%), rescheduling or planning outdoor activities (64%), changing locations to less affected areas (29%) and informing decisions on medication use (15%). Innovative and easy-to-use smartphone apps such as AirRater, that provide in idual-level and location-specific data, can enable users to reduce their exposure to environmental hazards and therefore protect their health.

Aboriginal impacts on fire and vegetation on a Tasmanian island

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-12-2017

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12935

AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 30-09-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41597-021-01006-6

Abstract: We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field c aigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and in idual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised in idual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

Evaluating carbon storage in restoration plantings in the Tasmanian Midlands, a highly modified agricultural landscape

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2015

DOI: 10.1071/RJ15070

Abstract: In recent years there have been incentives to reforest cleared farmland in southern Australia to establish carbon sinks, but the rates of carbon sequestration by such plantings are uncertain at local scales. We used a chronosequence of 21 restoration plantings aged from 6 to 34 years old to measure how above- and belowground carbon relates to the age of the planting. We also compared the amount of carbon in these plantings with that in nearby remnant forest and in adjacent cleared pasture. In terms of total carbon storage in biomass, coarse woody debris and soil, young restoration plantings contained on average much less biomass carbon than the remnant forest (72 versus 203 Mg C ha–1), suggesting that restoration plantings had not yet attained maximum biomass carbon. Mean biomass carbon accumulation during the first 34 years after planting was estimated as 4.2 ± 0.6 Mg C ha–1 year–1, with the 10th and 90th quantile regression estimates being 2.1 and 8.8 Mg C ha–1 year–1. There were no significant differences in soil organic carbon (0–30-cm depth) between the plantings, remnant forest and pasture, with all values in the range of 59–67 Mg ha–1. This is in line with other studies showing that soil carbon is slow to respond to changes in land use. Based on our measured rates of biomass carbon accumulation, it would require ~50 years to accumulate the average carbon content of remnant forests. However, it is more realistic to assume the rates will slow with time, and it could take over 100 years to attain a new equilibrium of biomass carbon stocks.

Understanding a flammable planet – climate, fire and global vegetation patterns

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 07-01-2005

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2004.01301.X

Indigenous Fire-Managed Landscapes in Southeast Australia during the Holocene—New Insights from the Furneaux Group Islands, Bass Strait

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 29-03-2021

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4020017

Abstract: Indigenous land use and climate have shaped fire regimes in southeast Australia during the Holocene, although their relative influence remains unclear. The archaeologically attested mid-Holocene decline in land-use intensity on the Furneaux Group islands (FGI) relative to mainland Tasmanian and SE Australia presents a natural experiment to identify the roles of climate and anthropogenic land use. We reconstruct two key facets of regional fire regimes, biomass (vegetation) burned (BB) and recurrence rate of fire episodes (RRFE), by using total charcoal influx and charcoal peaks in palaeoecological records, respectively. Our results suggest climate-driven biomass accumulation and dryness-controlled BB across southeast Australia during the Holocene. Insights from the FGI suggest people elevated the recurrence rate of fire episodes through frequent cultural burning during the early Holocene and reduction in recurrent Indigenous cultural burning during the mid–late Holocene led to increases in BB. These results provide long-term evidence of the effectiveness of Indigenous cultural burning in reducing biomass burned and may be effective in stabilizing fire regimes in flammable landscapes in the future.

A transdisciplinary approach to understanding the health effects of wildfire and prescribed fire smoke regimes

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Date: 12-2016

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/125009

Decadal dynamics of tree cover in an Australian tropical savanna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-08-2009

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2009.01964.X

Small mammal diversity is higher in infrequently compared with frequently burnt rainforest-savanna mosaics in the north Kimberley, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2021

DOI: 10.1071/WR20010

Flammable biomes dominated by eucalypts originated at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 15-02-2011

DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS1191

Abstract: Fire is a major modifier of communities, but the evolutionary origins of its prevalent role in shaping current biomes are uncertain. Australia is among the most fire-prone continents, with most of the landmass occupied by the fire-dependent sclerophyll and savanna biomes. In contrast to biomes with similar climates in other continents, Australia has a tree flora dominated by a single genus, Eucalyptus, and related Myrtaceae. A unique mechanism in Myrtaceae for enduring and recovering from fire damage likely resulted in this dominance. Here, we find a conserved phylogenetic relationship between post-fire resprouting (epicormic) anatomy and biome evolution, dating from 60 to 62 Ma, in the earliest Palaeogene. Thus, fire-dependent communities likely existed 50 million years earlier than previously thought. We predict that epicormic resprouting could make eucalypt forests and woodlands an excellent long-term carbon bank for reducing atmospheric CO(2) compared with biomes with similar fire regimes in other continents.

Dynamics of a savanna-forest mosaic in the Australian monsoon tropics inferred from stand structures and historical aerial photography

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2005

DOI: 10.1071/BT04141

Abstract: Stratified ground-truthing was undertaken within an area of approximately 30 km2 of tropical savanna across an abrupt sandstone escarpment in the monsoon tropics of Australia. Comparison of aerial photographs from 1941 and 1994 had previously revealed a landscape-wide expansion of closed forest and contraction of grassland patches. Good congruence between field measurements and the vegetation classifications from the 1994 aerial photography supported the authenticity of the vegetation changes. The relative abundance of rainforest and non-rainforest tree species also concurred with mapped vegetation transitions. Changes in in idual size classes of rainforest species, which are relatively fire sensitive, were consistent with the primacy of fire in controlling the distribution of the closed-forest formation. Fire scars previously mapped from satellite imagery were used to derive a fire activity index for contrasting vegetation transitions. Savannas that had converted to closed forest had lower fire activity than did stable savannas. Conversely, closed forests that converted to savanna had the highest fire activity index. The landscape-wide expansion of rainforest is associated with the cessation of Aboriginal fire management, possibly in conjunction with elevated CO2 and increasing annual rainfall.

Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-04-2015

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.1494

Carbon isotope analysis shows introduced bovines have broader dietary range than the largest native herbivores in an Australian tropical savanna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-11-2020

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12834

Conceptualizing ecological flammability: an experimental test of three frameworks using various types and loads of surface fuels

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 05-2018

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1010014

Seasonal patterns in biomass smoke pollution and the mid 20th‐century transition from Aboriginal to European fire management in northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 19-02-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1466-8238.2006.00271.X

Stand structure and the influence of overwood on regeneration in tropical eucalypt forest on Melville Island

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1992

DOI: 10.1071/BT9920335

Abstract: The stand structure of tree species in tropical eucalypt forest on Melville Island reveals a mass of short woody sprouts in the ground layer and low numbers of sapling eucalypts. The growth of the woody sprouts showed no significant response in the first 2 years after release from overwood competition. However, eucalypts are released in response to overwood removal, after 2-5 years, although investigations of old clear-felled blocks indicated that this response is not consistent. The initiation of saplings may be related to the size of the lignotuber and the presence of a tap root for some species. It is suggested that the accession of saplings may be limited by the degradation of root systems by termite herbivory. Using assumptions regarding longevity of life stages, it is demonstrated that the forest structure of the study site can be perpetuated undercurrent conditions despite indications that the relative dominance of the forest eucalypt species will shift.

Author Correction: Biological responses to the press and pulse of climate trends and extreme events

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 11-07-2018

DOI: 10.1038/S41558-018-0237-3

Fire in the Earth System

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 24-04-2009

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.1163886

Abstract: Wildfires can have dramatic and devastating effects on landscapes and human structures and are important agents in environmental transformation. Their impacts on nonanthropocentric aspects of the environment, such as ecosystems, bio ersity, carbon reserves, and climate, are often overlooked. Bowman et al. (p. 481 ) review what is known and what is needed to develop a holistic understanding of the role of fire in the Earth system, particularly in view of the pervasive impact of fires and the likelihood that they will become increasingly difficult to control as climate changes.

Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-02-2021

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15539

Abstract: Globally, collapse of ecosystems—potentially irreversible change to ecosystem structure, composition and function—imperils bio ersity, human health and well‐being. We examine the current state and recent trajectories of 19 ecosystems, spanning 58° of latitude across 7.7 M km 2 , from Australia's coral reefs to terrestrial Antarctica. Pressures from global climate change and regional human impacts, occurring as chronic ‘presses’ and/or acute ‘pulses’, drive ecosystem collapse. Ecosystem responses to 5–17 pressures were categorised as four collapse profiles—abrupt, smooth, stepped and fluctuating. The manifestation of widespread ecosystem collapse is a stark warning of the necessity to take action. We present a three‐step assessment and management framework (3As Pathway Awareness , Anticipation and Action ) to aid strategic and effective mitigation to alleviate further degradation to help secure our future.

Effects of fire and drought in a tropical eucalypt savanna colonized by rain forest

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 22-08-2003

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.2003.00934.X

Climate, Fire, and Anthropogenic Disturbance Determine the Current Global Distribution of Tropical Forest

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 04-09-2023

DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS202309.0127.V1

Introducing Fire: A Transdisciplinary Journal to Advance Understanding and Management of Landscape Fires from Local to Global Scales in the Past, Present, and Future

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 15-11-2017

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1010002

Climate seasonality limits carbon assimilation and storage in tropical forests

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 18-01-2016

DOI: 10.5194/BG-2015-619

Abstract: Abstract. The seasonal climate drivers of the carbon cycle in tropical forests remain poorly known, although these forests account for more carbon assimilation and storage than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Based on a unique combination of seasonal pan-tropical data sets from 89 experimental sites (68 include aboveground wood productivity measurements and 35 litter productivity measurements), their associate canopy photosynthetic capacity (enhanced vegetation index, EVI) and climate, we ask how carbon assimilation and aboveground allocation are related to climate seasonality in tropical forests and how they interact in the seasonal carbon cycle. We found that canopy photosynthetic capacity seasonality responds positively to precipitation when rainfall is 2000 mm.yr−1 (water-limited forests) and to radiation otherwise (light-limited forests) on the other hand, independent of climate limitations, wood productivity and litterfall are driven by seasonal variation in precipitation and evapotranspiration respectively. Consequently, light-limited forests present an asynchronism between canopy photosynthetic capacity and wood productivity. Precipitation first-order control indicates an overall decrease in tropical forest productivity in a drier climate.

Alternative stable states and the role of fire–vegetation–soil feedbacks in the temperate wilderness of southwest Tasmania

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 06-11-2011

DOI: 10.1007/S10980-011-9677-0

Classification of post-fire responses of woody plants to include pyrophobic communities

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 20-05-2020

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE3020015

Abstract: Developing standardised classification of post-fire responses is essential for globally consistent comparisons of woody vegetation communities. Existing classification systems are based on responses of species growing in fire-prone environments. To accommodate species that occur in rarely burnt environments, we have suggested some important points of clarification to earlier schemes categorizing post-fire responses. We have illustrated this approach using several Australasian conifer species as ex les of pyrophobic species. In particular, we suggest using the term “obligate seeder” for the general category of plants that rely on seed to reproduce, and qualifying this to “post-fire obligate seeder” for the narrower category of species with populations that recover from canopy fire only by seeding the species are typically fire-cued, with large aerial or soil seed banks that germinate profusely following a fire, and grow and reproduce rapidly in order to renew the seed bank before the next fire.

The interactive effect of temperature and humidity on the oxygen isotope composition of kangaroos

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 19-05-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2435.2007.01284.X

FIRE-STICK FORESTRY - A MATRIX MODEL IN SUPPORT OF SKILLFUL FIRE MANAGEMENT OF CALLITRIS-INTRATROPICA BAKER,R.T. BY NORTH AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 11-1994

DOI: 10.2307/2846032

Feeding the flames: how colonialism led to unprecedented wildfires across SE Australia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-05-2023

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU23-3238

Abstract: The Black Summer bushfires (2019-2020) cost the Australian economy over 100 billion dollars and burnt a total of 18 million hectares. In just one season, around 20% of Australia's Eucalyptus forests burnt down and billions of animals perished. Recent catastrophic fires in Australia and North America have made scientists and policymakers question how the disruption of First Nations' burning practices has impacted fuel loads. For instance, we have learnt from modern Australian Indigenous communities, historical literature, and art works that Indigenous peoples have used cultural burning to rejuvenate patches of land and preserve open vegetation for hunting and cultural purposes. The advent of British invasion brought a change in the type of fire regimes and landscape management across much of the continent, which may have led to an increase in flammable fuels in forest settings. However, the actual degree of land-cover modification by early settlers has only been often debated in the academic literature and within management stakeholders.The quantification of past land cover is needed to address such debates. Pollen is the key proxy to track past vegetation changes, but pollen spectra suffer from some important biases e.g. taphonomy, pollen productivity, dispersal capability. Estimating past vegetation cover from sedimentary pollen composition requires to correct for productivity and dispersal biases using empirical-based models of the pollen-vegetation relationship. Such models for quantitative vegetation reconstruction (e.g. REVEALS) have yet been mostly applied in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 15 years - here we present recent applications of this methodology from Australia. We show the quantification of land cover changes through pre- and post- British invasion on multiple records (n=51) across the southeastern Australian region. This represents the first regional application of REVEALS within the Australian continent.We provide the first empirical evidence that the regional landscape before British invasion was a cultural landscape with limited tree cover as it was maintained by Indigenous Australians through cultural burning. Our findings suggest that the removal of Indigenous vegetation management has altered woodland fuel structure and that much of the region was predominantly open before colonial invasion. The post-colonial land modification has resonance in wildfire occurrence and management under the pressing challenges posed by climate change.

Post-fire resprouting strategies of rainforest and savanna saplings along the rainforest–savanna boundary in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 14-10-2016

DOI: 10.1007/S11258-015-0531-3

Plant Phylogeny and the Origin of Major Biomes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-10-2005

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2005.01501.X

Mapping Tasmania's cultural landscapes: using habitat suitability modelling of archaeological sites as a landscape history tool

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-08-2019

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.13684

Fire weather risk differs across rain forest—savanna boundaries in the humid tropics of north‐eastern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 23-02-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2011.02350.X

Analysis of seasonal and interannual river flows affecting whitewater rafting on the Franklin River in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2022

DOI: 10.1016/J.JORT.2021.100481

Systematic study of aqueous monoethanolamine-based CO2 capture process: Model development and process improvement

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 19-11-2016

DOI: 10.1002/ESE3.101

Two climate-sensitive tree-ring chronologies from Arnhem Land, monsoonal Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-01-2019

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12699

Coexistence of shrubs and grass in a semi-arid landscape: a case study of mulga (Acacia aneura, Mimosaceae) shrublands embedded in fire-prone spinifex (Triodia pungens, Poaceae) hummock grasslands

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2009

DOI: 10.1071/BT07157

Abstract: The persistence of relatively fire-sensitive mulga (Acacia aneura F.Muell. ex Benth., Mimosaceae) shrublands within a landscape matrix of highly flammable spinifex (Triodia spp. R.Br., Poaceae) hummock grassland is a central question in the ecology of semiarid Australia. It is also a special case of questions about the coexistence of grasses and woody plants that have general application in semiarid rangelands and tropical savannas. With the use of field surveys and a 24-year fire history, we examined their coexistence on a sandplain in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory, Australia. Mulga and spinifex each formed discrete monodominant stands with generally abrupt boundaries that did not correspond to obvious edaphic or topographic discontinuities. Spinifex hummock grasslands burnt almost three times as often as mulga shrublands and tended to occur on lighter soils with less biological crusting and more physical soil crusting. A combination of fire and soil variables described the environmental partitioning better than did either alone. Biological crusting increased with time since fire in both vegetation types. The demographic structure of mulga stands reflected their fire history, the more frequently burnt stands comprising almost entirely small plants. One fifth of mulga plants .5 m tall were resprouts. Our data provide support for the hypothesis that abrupt boundaries between mulga shrublands and spinifex hummock grasslands can be generated across diffuse environmental gradients by fire–soil–vegetation feedback loops. The oft-severe demographic impact of fire on mulga that is burnt raises questions about the appropriateness of frequent intense fires in this landscape.

USING SPATIO - TEMPORAL MODELLING AS A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR MANAGEMENT OF A NATIVE PEST HERBIVORE

Publisher: ALOKI Ltd

Date: 10-08-2014

DOI: 10.15666/AEER/1201_163178

Macropod habitat use and response to management interventions in an agricultural - forest mosaic in north-eastern Tasmania as inferred by scat surveys

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2011

DOI: 10.1071/WR10116

Abstract: Context Native pest herbivores often require population numbers to be controlled in landscape settings where agricultural, plantation forests and native forests are juxtaposed. The Tasmanian pademelon Thylogale billardierii and the red-necked wallaby Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus are among the most abundant native pest herbivore species in Tasmania. Aims We aimed to determine the habitat use of pademelons and wallabies in response to (i) environmental and seasonal variation, and (ii) two different wildlife management interventions (shooting and fencing) in an agricultural–forest mosaic in north-eastern Tasmania. Methods Macropod abundance before and after shooting and fencing management interventions were estimated by changes in the rate of deposition of faecal pellets (scats per unit area per time interval) on an array of permanent transects that were stratified across three habitat types (agricultural land, plantation forest, and native forest). An experiment was also conducted to determine the endurance of fresh scats in the three habitats. Key results More than 90% of scats remained undecomposed for over five months, and more than 50% of scats remained undecomposed for over 11 months across the study site. Decomposition rates were significantly influenced by habitat type, specifically, highest in agricultural land and lowest in native forest for both species. Scat deposition rates showed that species abundance was influenced by habitat type and season. Macropod abundance was highest in agricultural land and lowest in native forest. Compared with summer and early autumn, pademelon scat abundance significantly decreased in late autumn and spring on agricultural land but showed no change for plantation forest or native forest. Wallaby scats showed similar seasonal trends for all three habitats, lower in late autumn and spring compared with summer and early autumn. Following each of the management interventions, macropod scat deposition rates decreased predominantly on agricultural land. This effect decreased with increasing distance from intervention loci. Conclusions We demonstrate that scat monitoring provides a useful survey technique for the assessment of macropod habitat use, and show that macropods select for agricultural habitats. Shooting and fencing interventions reduced the use of agricultural habitats, but this effect was localised. Implications A whole-landscape perspective is required when assessing the impacts of management interventions on pest populations. Results highlight the formidable challenges in controlling native herbivores in habitat mosaics, given the localised effects of management interventions and the importance of environmental and seasonal factors as drivers of habitat use.

Trajectory of change in land cover and carbon stocks following European settlement in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.ANCENE.2015.07.001

Tree Species Distribution Across a Seasonally Flooded Elevation Gradient in the Australian Monsoon Tropics

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 03-1991

DOI: 10.2307/2845293

Xylem function and growth rate interact to determine recovery rates after exposure to extreme water deficit

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-07-2010

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2010.03393.X

Abstract: • Motivated by the urgent need to understand how water stress-induced embolism limits the survival and recovery of plants during drought, the linkage between water-stress tolerance and xylem cavitation resistance was examined in one of the world's most drought resistant conifer genera, Callitris. • Four species were subjected to drought treatments of -5, -8 and -10 MPa for a period of 3-4 wk, after which plants were rewatered. Transpiration, basal growth and leaf water potential were monitored during and after drought. • Lethal water potential was correlated with the tension producing a 50% loss of stem hydraulic conductivity. The most resilient species suffered minimal embolism and recovered gas exchange within days of rewatering from -10 MPa, while the most sensitive species suffered major embolism and recovered very slowly. The rate of repair of water transport in the latter case was equal to the rate of basal area growth, indicating xylem reiteration as the primary means of hydraulic repair. • The survival of, and recovery from, water stress in Callitris are accurately predicted by the physiology of the stem water-transport system. As the only apparent means of xylem repair after embolism, basal area growth is a critical part of this equation.

Fire regimes: moving from a fuzzy concept to geographic entity

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 27-09-0012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2011.03893.X

Fire-patterned vegetation and the development of organic soils in the lowland vegetation mosaics of south-west Tasmania

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2011

DOI: 10.1071/BT10309

Abstract: Two contrasting ecological models have been proposed for the forest–moorland vegetation mosaics of south-west Tasmania that stress different interactions between fire, soils, vegetation and the physical environment to produce either stable or dynamic vegetation patterns. We investigated aspects of these models by s ling organic soil profiles across vegetation mosaics to determine variation in soil depth, organic carbon (C) content, nutrient capital, stable C isotope composition (δ13C) and 14C radiocarbon age in two contrasting landscape settings. 14C basal ages of organic soils ranged from recent ( calibrated (cal.) years BP) to mid Holocene (~7200 cal. years BP), with a tendency for older soils to be from poorly drained moorlands and younger soils from the forest. The long-term net rate of C accumulation ranged from 2.7 to 19.2 gC m–2 year–1, which is low compared with northern hemisphere peatland systems. We found that δ13C in organic soil profiles cannot be used to infer Holocene vegetation boundary dynamics in these systems. We found a systematic decrease of phosphorus from rainforest through eucalypt to moorland, but estimated that phosphorus capital in moorland soils was still sufficient for the development of forest vegetation. Our results suggest that the characteristics of organic soils across the landscape are the result of interactions between not only vegetation and fire frequency, but also other factors such as drainage and topography.

Dynamics of Forest Clumps on Chenier Plains, Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1990

DOI: 10.1071/BT9900593

Abstract: Forest clumps occur scattered throughout Sorghum plumosum grasslands on chenier plains at Gurig National Park, Cobourg Peninsula, a preferred habitat for the introduced banteng (Bos javanicus.). The clumps are dominated by Pandanus spiralis, Acacia auriculiformis, Alstonia actinophylla, Timonius timon and Casuarina equisetifolia and vary in size from the radius of one tree crown to large patches of over several hectares. Fifteen of the 32 woody species recorded in 42 clumps occurred as juveniles less than 1 cm diameter at breast height. Both the clumps and grasslands occur on uniform calcareous soils. The clumps are thought to be a stage in a succession towards monsoon forest. Field experiments showed that seedlings from a range of monsoon forest and savanna species can grow on the plains. Interpretation of aerial photography taken in 1963 and 1982 suggests that the clumps have expanded. Fire is thought to control the succession. A fire on the plains was found to kill between one and two-thirds of the basal area of Pandanus spiralis and A. auriculiformis and stimulated the establishment of six times more A. auriculiformis seedlings than in nearby unburnt clumps. Monsoon forest juveniles that invade the clumps typically resprout following fire. Stunted, fire-damaged monsoon forest species (e.g. Timonius timon, Alstonia actinophylla) occur in low densities in the grasslands. It is unclear whether banteng promotes the succession by reducing fuel loads in the grasslands and spreading A. auriculiforms seeds.

Fire risk and severity decline with stand development in Tasmanian giant Eucalyptus forest

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2021.119724

Future changes in climatic water balance determine potential for transformational shifts in Australian fire regimes

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Date: 06-2016

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/065002

Can stable carbon isotopes (δ¹³C) in soil carbon be used to describe the dynamics of Eucalyptus savanna–rainforest boundaries in the Australian monsoon tropics?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-2002

DOI: 10.1046/J.1442-9993.2002.01158.X

Drivers of rain-forest boundary dynamics in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia: a field assessment

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 2007

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467406003701

Abstract: Understanding the causes of savanna–forest dynamics is vital as small but widespread changes in the extent of tropical forests can have major impacts on global climate, bio ersity and human well-being. Comparison of aerial photographs for 50 rain-forest patches in Kakadu National Park had previously revealed a landscape-wide monotonic expansion of rain-forest boundaries between 1964 and 2004. Here floristic, structural, environmental and disturbance attributes of the changes were investigated by s ling 588 plots across 30 rain-forest patches. Areas that had changed from savanna to rain forest were associated with a significantly higher abundance of rain-forest trees and less grasses, relative to stable savanna areas. Ordination analyses showed that overall floristic composition was not significantly different between newly established rain forest and longer established rain forest. Generalized linear models also indicated that contemporary levels of disturbance (fire and feral animal impact) and environmental variables (slope and soil texture) were poor predictors of historical vegetation change. We concluded that (1) the rain-forest boundaries are highly dynamic at the decadal scale (2) rain-forest expansion is consistent with having been driven by global environmental change phenomena such as increases in rainfall and atmospheric CO 2 and (3) expansion will continue if current climatic trends and management conditions persist.

Shifts in macropod home ranges in response to wildlife management interventions

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1071/WR09144

Abstract: Context. Understanding how the in idual movement patterns and dispersion of a population change following wildlife management interventions is crucial for effective population management. Aims. We quantified the impacts of two wildlife management strategies, a lethal intervention and a subsequent barrier intervention, on localised populations of the two most common macropod species in Tasmania, the Tasmanian pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) and the red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus). This manipulation allowed us to examine two competing hypotheses concerning the distribution of in iduals in animal populations – the Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) hypothesis and the Rose Petal (RP) hypothesis. We predicted that the RP would be supported if in iduals maintained their previous home ranges following intervention, whereas the IFD would be supported if in iduals redistributed following the management interventions. Methods. The movement patterns of T. billardierii and M. r. rufogriseus were tracked using GPS technology before and after the two management interventions. Key results. Following lethal intervention, pademelons and wallabies (1) maintained their home-range area, (2) increased their utilisation of agricultural habitat and (3) shifted their mean centroid locations compared with the pre-intervention period. Following barrier intervention, pademelons and wallabies (1) maintained their home-range area, (2) decreased their utilisation of agricultural habitat and (3) shifted their mean centroid locations compared with the pre-intervention period. Conclusions. On the basis of the in idual responses of macropods to the management strategies (1) lethal intervention appeared to induce small shifts in home-range distributions of those remaining in iduals in the population with home ranges overlapping the areas of lethal intervention and (2) barrier intervention is likely to induce whole-scale population movements of the animals that survive the lethal intervention in their search of an alternative food source. Both species displayed spatial and temporal shifts in their home-range distributions in response to lethal and barrier interventions that appear to conform broadly to predictions of IFD, at least in the timeframe of the present experiment. Implications. Wildlife management strategies, which are increasingly constrained by ethical, socio-political and financial considerations, should be based on ecological and behavioural data regarding the likely responses of the target population.

Comparing the height and area of wild and prescribed fire particle plumes in south-east Australia using weather radar

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2018

DOI: 10.1071/WF17166

Abstract: Smoke pollution from landscape fires is a major health issue. Prescribed burning aims to reduce the area and impact of wildfire, but itself produces smoke pollution. This raises the question as to whether the smoke production and transport from prescribed fires is substantially different compared to wildfires. We examined the maximum height, width and areal footprint of large-particle plumes from 97 wild and 126 prescribed fires in south-eastern Australia using the existing network of weather radars. Radar detects large particles in smoke (probably those μm) and hence is an imperfect proxy for microfine ( μm) particles that are known to affect human health. Of the 223 landscape fires, ~45% of plumes were detected, with the probability being .8 for large fires ( 000 ha) regardless of type, closer than 50 km from the radar. Plume height was strongly influenced by fire area, the height of the planetary boundary layer and fire type. Plume heights differed between wildfire (range 1016–12 206 m, median 3260 m) and prescribed fires (range 706–6397 m, median 1669 m), and prescribed fires were predicted to be 800–1200 m lower than wildfires, controlling for other factors. For both wildfires and prescribed fires, the maximum plume footprint was always near the ground.

Preliminary Biogeographic Analysis of the Northern Territory Vascular Flora

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1988

DOI: 10.1071/BT9880503

Abstract: The Northern Territory vascular flora is composed of 190 families, 979 genera and 3411 species 5.2% of the species are naturalised exotics. The native flora is equally dominated by Pan-tropic and Australasian genera (23%), followed by Old World Tropic (16%), Indomalaysian (14%) and Cosmopolitan (13%) genera. The northernmost and southernmost 5° latitude of the Northern Territory were cornpared. These environmental extremes have fewer taxa in large families and genera, and the northern section has many more families and genera with few taxa than the southern end of the Northern Territory. The majority of the genera from both extremes have tropical affinities. Analysis of three published schemes that subjectively regionalised the Northern Territory showed that all the schemes are imperfect, as some of the within-scheme regions were found to have statistically similar generic composition. Objective classification of the generic composition of 0.5 x 0.5° grid cells and the specific composition of 1.0 x 1.5° grid cells, based on Northern Territory herbarium records, produced largely coherent spatial groups with ecological reality. Comparison of these two classifications with existing regionalisations revealed that Barlow's scheme best approximates them, although it is not detailed enough in the area north of 15°S. latitude and does separate the MacDonnell Ranges from the surrounding lowlands in central Australia. Comparison of the species classification with two objective regionalisations based on the recorded species distributions in two widespread genera (Acacia and Eucalyptus) revealed that the latter forms regions of a very general nature. One feature common to classifications based upon 1 : 250 000 map sheets is the floristic dichotomy at 17-18°S. The analyses presented here are preliminary because of the variable and incomplete collecting that has occurred throughout the Northern Territory. Accurate regionalisations can follow only after much more systematic fieldwork and collecting. This will be achieved by the current integrated Northern Territory vegetation mapping program.

Pattern, prediction and parsimony in continental‐scale synthesis of pyromes: a reply to Gosper et al.

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 22-12-2015

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12691

Wildfire science is at a loss for comprehensive data

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 31-07-2018

DOI: 10.1038/D41586-018-05840-4

Factors influencing tree growth in tropical savanna: studies of an abrupt Eucalyptus boundary at Yapilika, Melville Island, northern Australia

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 02-1994

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467400007756

Abstract: Most of the land surface of Melville Island, Australia's second largest island, is covered in Eucalyptus savanna. One exception is an area at Yapilika where a large tract of savanna is dominated by Acacia shrubs. An ordination analysis of 122 quadrats revealed that the boundary of Eucalyptus dominance did not correspond to a major change in floristic composition. Detailed transect studies at one site on the boundary showed that Eucalyptus trees were abruptly replaced by a band of Grevillea trees which gradually gave way to Acacia shrub dominance. There was a gradual change in the floristic composition of the savanna across the boundary. The distributional limit of Eucalyptus was found to be independent of any hydrological discontinuity. There was a slight decrease ( .5 m) in altitude from Eucalyptus to Acacia savanna. The Acacia savanna soils were sandier and their surface soil had significantly lower concentrations of Ca and Mg and significantly greater concentration of Al compared with the Eucalyptus savanna soils. Eucalyptus seedlings planted in the three savanna communities were not found to be under drought stress (pre-dawn leaf xylem potentials of – 0.9 MPa) during the dry season. Over a 12 month period Eucalyptus tetrodonta and E. miniata seedling growth was not significantly different on the Acacia or Eucalyptus savanna, although this result may be due to the counteracting effects of greater soil fertility and tree competition in the Eucalyptus savanna and lower soil fertility in the treeless, and hence competition-free, Acacia savanna. This hypothesis is supported by the significantly greater growth of Eucalyptus seedlings on fertilized Acacia savanna soils. The limited production, dispersal and establishment of Eucalyptus seeds and the greater frequency of fires in the Acacia savanna probably explains the abrupt limit to Eucalyptus dominance along the edaphic gradient.

Value of long‐term ecological studies

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 23-02-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2011.02351.X

Bioclimatic drivers of fire severity across the Australian geographical range of giant Eucalyptus forests

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 26-04-2021

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13663

Abstract: The relationships between productivity, fire frequency and fire severity shape the distribution of plant communities globally. Dry forests are expected to burn frequently and wet forests to burn infrequently. However, the effect of productivity on intensity and severity of wildfire is less consistent and poorly understood. One productive ecosystem where this is especially true is the Australian tall wet Eucalyptus ‐dominated forest (TWEF), which spans wet areas across the continent. This study aims to characterise how climate shapes the likelihood of low‐ and high‐severity wildfire across Australian TWEF. We performed a continental‐scale analysis of fuels in 48 permanent plots in early‐mature stage TWEF across four climate regions in Australia. We estimated fuel loads and measured understorey microclimate. We then obtained historical fire‐weather observations from nearby meteorological stations and used fuel moisture and fire behaviour equations to predict the historical frequency with which TWEF could burn and what fire severities were expected. We investigated how this varies across the different TWEF climate regions. Lastly, we validated our approach by remeasuring eight plots that burned unexpectedly post‐measurement. We found that surface fuels in cooler, moister regions were available to burn 1–16 days per year historically, with only low‐severity, surface fire possible most of these days: high‐severity fire was only possible under rare, extreme fire‐weather conditions. However, in warmer, drier regions, fuels were available to burn 23–35 days annually, and high‐severity fire was more likely than low‐severity fire. Validation showed that we slightly overestimated flame heights, inflating high‐severity risk estimates. If we used elevated fuel loads to predict flame heights, however, high‐severity fire was more likely than low‐severity fire everywhere. Lastly, the likelihood of high‐severity fire increased with increasing temperature and worsening fire weather. Synthesis . Fire activity in early‐mature TWEF is limited by climatic constraints on fire weather and availability to burn, with high‐severity fire more likely in warmer, drier regions than in cooler, wetter ones. This indicates a particularly worrisome vulnerability to climate change, given TWEF's diminished ability to recover from disturbance in a warmer world. The occurrence of both low‐ and high‐severity fire means the fire regimes of TWEF are best described as mixed severity.

Frequency and season of fires varies with distance from settlement and grass composition in Eucalyptus miniata savannas of the Darwin region of northern Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2009

DOI: 10.1071/WF06158

Abstract: In savanna environments, fire and grass are inextricably linked by feedback loops. In the Darwin area of northern Australia, flammable tall annual grasses of the genus Sarga (previously Sorghum1) have been implicated in a savanna fire-cycle. We examined the relationship between fire history, the grass layer and distance from settlement using LANDSAT images and plot-based surveys. Areas more than 500 m from settlement were burnt almost twice as often, the additional fires being concentrated late in the dry season and in areas dominated by annual Sarga and even more so where dominated by short annual grasses. Grass cover was a stronger correlate of fire frequency than grass biomass, the two showing a non-linear relationship. Sites dominated by short annual grasses had similar cover to, but markedly lower biomass than those dominated by annual Sarga or perennial grasses. Our results reflect the success of fire suppression in the vicinity of settlements, but little effective management of late dry-season wildfires in remoter areas. We evaluate several hypotheses for the association of frequent fire with annual grasses regardless of their growth form and conclude that fuel connectivity and possibly other fuel characteristics are key issues worthy of further investigation.

Have plants evolved to self-immolate?

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Date: 04-11-2014

DOI: 10.3389/FPLS.2014.00590

The human dimension of fire regimes on Earth

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-09-2011

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2011.02595.X

Marsupial Megafauna, Aborigines and the Overkill Hypothesis: Application of Predator-Prey Models to the Question of Pleistocene Extinction in Australia

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 05-1998

DOI: 10.2307/2997372

Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is a Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 16-06-2023

DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS202306.1187.V1

Abstract: The Victorian Government Inquiry into wildfires that killed 173 people in 2009 has driven an Australian policy shift from self-evacuation or staying and defending a well-prepared property (& lsquo go or stay& rsquo ) to self-evacuation under catastrophic fire weather (& lsquo leave early& rsquo ). The Inquiry also led to the establishment of national & lsquo erformance standards& rsquo for Private Fire Shelters (PFS, that also known as bunkers). Nonetheless, incorporation of PFS into national bushfire policy remains embryonic with only Victoria having streamlined accreditation and planning approval processes. Arguments against PFS include potentially engendering complacency about preparing dwellings to survive fire and encourage risky behavior in response to a fire threat. Counteracting these arguments is research that shows that residents without PFS have low engagement with bushfire preparation and typically delay evacuation. In any case, because wildfire is unpredictable it is accepted that self-evacuation plans must have fallback positions that include sheltering & lsquo in place& rsquo from the bushfire, making properly used and well maintained PFS an important element of bushfire safety. A less discussed barrier to PFS uptake outside Victoria appears to hinge on a lack of clarity about obligations for their design, certification, and consistency with planning approvals. The escalating Australian fire crisis demands much greater research and development in legal frameworks, policy and planning processes for PFS, as well as design and construction standards.

Niche differentiation and regeneration in the seasonally flooded Melaleuca forests of northern Australia

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 07-2007

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467407004130

Abstract: Gallery and floodplain forests in monsoonal northern Australia are mostly sclerophyllous and dominated by five closely related species of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) amongst which niche differentiation is unclear. We present a floristic and environmental analysis of ‘the flooded forest’ using data from 340 plots distributed across 450 000 km 2 of the Top End of the Northern Territory. Melaleuca argentea was confined to streams and occurred on sandier substrates, whereas M. cajuputi mostly occurred in the near-coastal lowlands on clay soils. The greater basal area of M. cajuputi suggests an association with productive sites. Melaleuca dealbata , M. viridiflora and M. leucadendra occurred on a wide range of soils. More deeply floodprone sites were occupied by M. argentea and M. leucadendra along streams and by M. leucadendra and M. cajuputi on floodplains and in sw s. A general deficiency but occasional abundance of Melaleuca seedlings suggests that regeneration is episodic. Seedlings were more frequent in recently burnt areas and especially where fires had been severe. We propose that Melaleuca forests occur where disturbance by fire and/or floodwater is too great for rain forest to persist, rendering them the wetland analogue to the eucalypts that dominate well-drained portions of the north Australian environment.

The legacy of mid-holocene fire on a Tasmanian montane landscape

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-11-2014

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12229

Lack of reliable post-fire recovery mechanisms makes the iconic Tasmanian conifer

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 11-05-2021

DOI: 10.1071/BT20117

Abstract: Athrotaxis cupressoides is an iconic Tasmanian palaeoendemic conifer that is vulnerable to fire. A survey of three populations burnt by severe fire in 2016, conducted 1 year post-fire, found 33% of stems were still alive, with many surviving stems suffering some canopy scorch. We re-surveyed these populations to quantify delayed mortality, resprouting, and presence of juveniles, and to determine whether fire impacts can be reliably assessed after 1 year. We applied three measures of fire severity: canopy scorched, canopy consumed, and the minimum burnt twig diameter of neighbouring shrubs. We found overall stem survival in 2020 was 31%, and that 97% of stems that were dead 4 years post-fire had died within the first year. Our best predictor of stem mortality was percentage canopy scorched. Overall, 1.8% of burnt stems resprouted, but severely burnt stems did not resprout. Juveniles were present ~9.9% of burnt trees in 2017, and only 1.8% in 2020. We conclude that A. cupressoides stems are not unusually fire sensitive, but rather, that the species’ vulnerability to severe fire results from its lack of reliable recovery mechanisms. This study shows that fire-caused mortality can be reliably assessed 1 year post-fire, and possibly earlier. Interventions such as sowing seed or transplanting seedlings could be necessary to re-establish fire-killed populations.

Using generalized autoregressive error models to understand fire–vegetation–soil feedbacks in a mulga–spinifex landscape mosaic

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 26-07-2010

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2010.02359.X

Bushfires in Tasmania, Australia: An Introduction

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 26-02-2022

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE5020033

Abstract: Tasmania is a large island (68,401 km2) that lies 200 km south of the south-eastern Australian mainland [...]

Pyric Herbivory and the Nexus Between Forage, Fire and Native and Introduced Large Grazing Herbivores in Australian Tropical Savannas

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 08-11-2023

DOI: 10.1007/S10021-022-00781-6

Abstract: Earth’s tropical savannas typically support high biomass of erse grazing herbivores that depend on a highly fluctuating resource: high-quality forage. An annual wet–dry cycle, fire and herbivory combine to influence forage quality and availability throughout the year. In the savannas of northern Australia, a depauperate suite of large native (marsupial) herbivores (wallaroos [ Osphranter spp.] and the agile wallaby [ Notamacropus agilis ]) compete for resources with non-native large herbivores introduced in the late nineteenth century, particularly bovines (feral and managed cattle [ Bos spp.] and feral water buffalo [ Bubalus bubalis ]) that now dominate the landscape. Anecdotal reports of recent population declines of large macropods and negative impacts of bovines highlight the need to better understand the complex relationship between forage, fire and abundance of native and introduced large herbivores. The pyric herbivory conceptual model, which posits complex feedbacks between fire and herbivory and was developed outside Australia, predicts that native and introduced large herbivores will both respond positively to post-fire forage production in Australian savannas where they co-occur. We used grazing exclosures, forage biomass and nutrient analyses and motion-sensor camera-trapping to evaluate the overall robustness of the pyric herbivory model in the Australian context, specifically whether forage quantity and quality are impacted by herbivory, season and fire activity, and which forage attributes most influence large grazing herbivore abundance. Forage quantity, as measured by live, dead and total herbaceous biomass and proportion of biomass alive, was higher inside herbivore exclosures, even at relatively low densities of herbivores. Forage quality, as measured by fibre content, was not affected by herbivory, however, crude protein content of live herbaceous biomass was greater outside herbivore exclosures. Recent fire was an important predictor of all measures of forage quantity and quality. Recent fire occurrence decreased overall quantity (biomass) but increased quality (decreased fibre content and increased crude protein content) late dry season fires resulted in forage with the highest crude protein content. The predictions of the pyric herbivory conceptual model are consistent with observations of the feeding behaviour of introduced bovines and some large macropods in northern Australian savannas, lending support to the global generality of pyric herbivory in fire-prone grassy biomes.

Abandoned Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) nests and coastal rainforest boundary dynamics during the late Holocene in monsoonal Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-1999

DOI: 10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00069-X

Pollen Loads and Allergic Rhinitis in Darwin, Australia: A Potential Health Outcome of the Grass-Fire Cycle

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 03-2009

DOI: 10.1007/S10393-009-0225-1

Abstract: Although the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis has been increasing in tropical regions, little is known about the allergenicity of pollens from tropical plant families or the importance of ongoing environmental changes. We investigated associations between daily average pollen counts of several tropical plant families and sales of medications for the treatment of allergic rhinitis in Darwin, Australia-a tropical setting in which grass abundance has increased due to increased fire frequencies and the introduction of African pasture grasses. Daily pollen counts with detailed identification of plant species were undertaken in conjunction with a weekly survey of flowering plant species from April 2004 to November 2005. Five pharmacies provided daily sales data of selected medications commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis. We used generalized linear modeling to examine outcomes. All analyses accounted for the potential confounding effects of time trends, holidays, respiratory viral illnesses, meteorological conditions, and air pollution. The peak total pollen count was 94 grains/m(3). Despite the low levels of Poaceae (grass) pollen (maximum daily count, 24 grains/m(3)), there was a clear association with daily sales of anti-allergic medications greatest at a lag of 1 day. Sales increased by 5% with an interquartile range rise (3 grain/m(3)) in Poaceae pollen (5.07%, 95%CI 1.04%, 9.25%). No associations were observed with pollen from other plant families. Although further testing is required, we suggest that an overlooked aspect of the "grass-fire cycle" that is degrading many tropical landscapes, could be an increase in the prevalence of allergic rhinitis.

Cattle grazing does not reduce fire severity in eucalypt forests and woodlands of the Australian Alps

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 22-11-2013

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12104

Using Digital Surface Models from UAS Imagery of Fire Damaged Sphagnum Peatlands for Monitoring and Hydrological Restoration

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 14-12-2018

DOI: 10.3390/DRONES2040045

Abstract: The sub-alpine and alpine Sphagnum peatlands in Australia are geographically constrained to poorly drained areas c. 1000 m a.s.l. Sphagnum is an important contributor to the resilience of peatlands however, it is also very sensitive to fire and often shows slow recovery after being damaged. Recovery is largely dependent on a sufficient water supply and impeded drainage. Monitoring the fragmented areas of Australia’s peatlands can be achieved by capturing ultra-high spatial resolution imagery from an unmanned aerial systems (UAS). High resolution digital surface models (DSMs) can be created from UAS imagery, from which hydrological models can be derived to monitor hydrological changes and assist with rehabilitation of damaged peatlands. One of the constraints of the use of UAS is the intensive fieldwork required. The need to distribute ground control points (GCPs) adds to fieldwork complexity. GCPs are often used for georeferencing of the UAS imagery, as well as for removal of artificial tilting and doming of the photogrammetric model created by camera distortions. In this study, Tasmania’s northern peatlands were mapped to test the viability of creating hydrological models. The case study was further used to test three different GCP scenarios to assess the effect on DSM quality. From the five scenarios, three required the use of all (16–20) GCPs to create accurate DSMs, whereas the two other sites provided accurate DSMs when only using four GCPs. Hydrological maps produced with the TauDEM tools software package showed high visual accuracy and a good potential for rehabilitation guidance, when using ground- controlled DSMs.

Monsoon Forests in North-Western Australia. II. Forest-Savanna Transitions

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1992

DOI: 10.1071/BT9920089

Abstract: Presence-absence data for tree species in over 1000 quadrats, 10 ° 20m, on 144 transects were analysed by the isive classificatory program TWINSPAN in order to define wet or dry monsoon forest, ecotone and savanna assemblages. A sorted table revealed that there was continuous floristic variation among these six vegetation types, although the abundance of tree species varied highly significantly between assemblages. Both wet and dry monsoon forests have higher stem densities, greater basal area, more tree species, higher litter cover and lower grass cover than surrounding savannas. Wet monsoon forest soils have significantly more moisture than surrounding savanna, but on the dry monsoon forest-savanna boundary there is no significant difference in soil moisture. Both wet and dry monsoon forest soils are more fertile than those in surrounding savannas, although there is considerable variation in the concentration of nutrients within and between the two forest formations. The greater fertility of the forest probably reflects superior nutrient accretion compared with the savanna, rather than indicating that monsoon forests are restricted to inherently fertile sites. Half the wet monsoon forest boundaries s led had ecotonal quadrats separating forest from savanna, while only 18% of the dry monsoon forest boundaries had such structurally and floristically intermediate quadrats. A limited number of tree species was found to dominate both wet and dry forest ecotones. Wet forest ecotones are overall environmentally more similar to the surrounding savanna than the adjoining forests. Dry forest ecotones are environmentally intermediate between the dry forest and savanna. Both wet and dry forests have less fire damage than surrounding savannas. In contrast to the edaphic control of most wet monsoon forests, dry forests are typically restricted to fire protected niches. The distribution of both wet and dry forest, ecotone and savanna on boundaries with no edaphic or topographic discontinuities is thought to reflect a dynamic relationship between these assemblages.

Convergence of Culture, Ecology, and Ethics: Management of Feral Swamp Buffalo in Northern Australia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 11-03-2009

DOI: 10.1007/S10806-009-9158-5

Monitoring contrasting land management in the savanna landscapes of northern Australia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-09-2008

DOI: 10.1007/S00267-007-9006-1

Abstract: We compared measures of ecosystem state across six adjacent land-tenure groups in the intact tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia. Tenure groups include two managed by Aboriginal owners, two national parks, a cluster of pastoral leases, and a military training area. This information is of relevance to the debate about the role of indigenous lands in the Australian conservation estate. The timing and frequency of fire was determined by satellite imagery the biomass and composition of the herb-layer and the abundance of large feral herbivores by field surveys and weediness by analysis of a Herbarium database. European tenures varied greatly in fire frequencies but were consistently burnt earlier in the dry season than the two Aboriginal tenures, the latter having intermediate fire frequencies. Weeds were more frequent in the European tenures, whilst feral animals were most abundant in the Aboriginal tenures. This variation strongly implies a signature of current management and/or recent environmental history. We identify indices suitable for monitoring of management outcomes in an extensive and sparsely populated landscape. Aboriginal land offers a unique opportunity for the conservation of bio ersity through the maintenance of traditional fire regimes. However, without financial support, traditional practices may prove unsustainable both economically and because exotic weeds and feral animals will alter fire regimes. An additional return on investment in Aboriginal land management is likely to be improved livelihoods and health outcomes for these disadvantaged communities.

Intra-specific variation in leaf attributes of four savanna tree species across a rainfall gradient in tropical Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2005

DOI: 10.1071/BT04080

Abstract: Leaf attributes of four savanna tree species were measured along a rainfall gradient (1650–950 mm per annum) in the Australian monsoon tropics. As the mean annual rainfall decreased, leaf thickness increased for three of these four species. However, a corresponding decrease in leaf density for two species meant that leaf mass per area increased significantly only for one species. Physiological measurements were made during both the wet and dry seasons on comparable stands of vegetation near the extremes and middle of this gradient. Assimilation per unit mass was similar at all three sites but assimilation per leaf area was higher at the drier sites because leaves were thicker with higher mass per area. These results probably reflect reduced tree density and leaf area index at the drier sites, which offsets the lower rainfall, potentially allowing similar rates of assimilation per unit carbohydrate invested in leaves.

Variation in Eucalyptus delegatensis post-fire recovery strategies: The Tasmanian subspecies is a resprouter whereas the mainland Australian subspecies is an obligate seeder

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2020.118292

Using smartphone technology to reduce health impacts from atmospheric environmental hazards

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Date: 29-03-2018

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/AAB1E6

A burnt out case? Reply to Lonsdale and Braithwaite (1991)

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-1992

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1992.TB00786.X

Effect of experimental fire on seedlings of Australian and Gondwanan trees species from a Tasmanian montane vegetation mosaic

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2018

DOI: 10.1071/BT18124

Abstract: The montane area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was recently burnt by large fires ignited by lightning, and such fires are predicted to become more frequent with climate change. The region has a mix of fire-sensitive and fire-tolerant vegetation, but there is little information available on resprouting ability of seedlings of the dominant species of these mosaics. We predicted that seedlings of species found in fire-prone locations would exhibit more post-fire resprouting than seedlings of Gondwanan relictual species, which typically occur in fire-protected locations. To test this hypothesis we compared topkill and resprouting ability of seedlings from five tree species characteristic of the montane vegetation mosaics by exposing them to a propane burner flame for 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60s, simulating a fire intensity of 33 kW m–1. Overall, 93 of 100 flame-exposed plants were topkilled. Topkill was related to duration of flame exposure and seedling size rather than species. By contrast, resprouting of topkilled seedlings was strongly correlated with species rather than seedling size, and was not affected by duration of flame exposure. Contrary to expectations, the rainforest plant Nothofagus cunninghamii was the strongest resprouter, whereas few of the topkilled eucalypt seedlings resprouted. Our study shows the commonly held association between palaeoendemic Gondwanan species and low fire tolerance versus Australian species and high fire tolerance is overly simplistic. We need to better understand fire recovery mechanisms in the Tasmanian flora using a combination of field observation and experimental approaches.

The uncertain blitzkrieg of Pleistocene megafauna

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 22-03-2004

DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-2699.2003.01028.X

Eucalyptus obliqua seedling growth in organic vs. mineral soil horizons

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Date: 20-02-2015

DOI: 10.3389/FPLS.2015.00097

Conservation of monsoon rainforest isolates in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 1992

DOI: 10.1016/0006-3207(92)90713-W

Aerial sowing stopped the loss of alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) forests burnt by three short-interval fires in the Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2015.01.008

Demographic vulnerability of an extreme xerophyte in arid Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2018

DOI: 10.1071/BT17150

Abstract: Callitris glaucophylla (syn. C. columellaris F.Muell.) is an iconic Australian conifer that is suffering a recruitment deficit over much of the arid zone. Here, seedling establishment requires a series of unusually wet years, and protection from high levels of herbivory. The aim of our study was to determine the size class structure of C. glaucophylla populations in the most arid part (150 mm mean annual precipitation) of its range, and particularly whether seedlings had established during a wet period in 2010/11. We s led C. glaucophylla populations throughout the region, including inside a 6000 ha feral animal exclosure. We found no seedlings from 2010/11, except on drainage lines adjacent to roads. Of 255 plots centred on mature trees, only 2% contained older seedlings, and 8% contained saplings, with no differences inside or outside exclosure, and 84% of trees were larger than 20 cm basal diameter. Matching dates of known regeneration with long-term rainfall records suggested that successful regeneration of C. glaucophylla requires a total of 600–720 mm of rain over a 2 year period. Our radiocarbon dating showed the age of three large trees ranged from 106 to 268 years, signifying that such trees in this region likely have only 2–8 climatic opportunities to reproduce.

Vegetation, fire and soil feedbacks of dynamic boundaries between rainforest, savanna and grassland

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 23-08-2017

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12415

The Science of Firescapes: Achieving Fire-Resilient Communities

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 02-2016

DOI: 10.1093/BIOSCI/BIV182

Response of Callitris intratropica R.T. Baker & H.G. Smith to fire protection, Murgenella, Northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-1988

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1988.TB00964.X

Exposure to bushfire smoke and asthma: an ecological study

Publisher: AMPCo

Date: 06-2002

DOI: 10.5694/J.1326-5377.2002.TB04551.X

Abstract: To examine the relationship between the mean daily concentration of respirable particles arising from bushfire smoke and hospital presentations for asthma. An ecological study conducted in Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia) from 1 April - 31 October 2000, a period characterised by minimal rainfall and almost continuous bushfire activity in the proximate bushland. The exposure variable was the mean atmospheric concentration of particles of 10 microns or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)) per cubic metre per 24-hour period. The daily number of presentations for asthma to the Emergency Department of Royal Darwin Hospital. There was a significant increase in asthma presentations with each 10-microg/m(3) increase in PM(10) concentration, even after adjusting for weekly rates of influenza and for weekend or weekday (adjusted rate ratio, 1.20 95% CI, 1.09-1.34 P < 0.001). The strongest effect was seen on days when the PM(10) was above 40 microg/m(3) (adjusted rate ratio, 2.39 95% CI, 1.46-3.90), compared with days when PM(10) levels were less than 10 microg/m(3). Airborne particulates from bushfires should be considered as injurious to human health as those from other sources. Thus, the control of smoke pollution from bushfires in urban areas presents an additional challenge for managers of fireprone landscapes.

Fire and cyclone damage to woody vegetation on the north coast of the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 05-1994

DOI: 10.1080/00049189408703096

Environmental and allometric drivers of tree growth rates in a north Australian savanna

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2006

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2006.06.034

Extreme air pollution events from bushfires and dust storms and their association with mortality in Sydney, Australia 1994-2007

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2011

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2011.05.007

Abstract: Extreme air pollution events due to bushfire smoke and dust storms are expected to increase as a consequence of climate change, yet little has been published about their population health impacts. We examined the association between air pollution events and mortality in Sydney from 1997 to 2004. Events were defined as days for which the 24h city-wide concentration of PM(10) exceeded the 99th percentile. All events were researched and categorised as being caused by either smoke or dust. We used a time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression modelling adjusted for influenza epidemics, same day and lagged temperature and humidity. Reported odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals are for mortality on event days compared with non-event days. The contribution of elevated average temperatures to mortality during smoke events was explored. There were 52 event days, 48 attributable to bushfire smoke, six to dust and two affected by both. Smoke events were associated with a 5% increase in non-accidental mortality at a lag of 1 day OR (95% confidence interval (CI)) 1.05 (95%CI: 1.00-1.10). When same day temperature was removed from the model, additional same day associations were observed with non-accidental mortality OR 1.05 (95%CI: 1.00-1.09), and with cardiovascular mortality OR (95%CI) 1.10 (95%CI: 1.00-1.20). Dust events were associated with a 15% increase in non-accidental mortality at a lag of 3 days, OR (95%CI) 1.16 (95%CI: 1.03-1.30). The magnitude and temporal patterns of association with mortality were different for smoke and dust events. Public health advisories during bushfire smoke pollution episodes should include advice about hot weather in addition to air pollution.

The severity and extent of the Australia 2019–20 Eucalyptus forest fires are not the legacy of forest management

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 10-05-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-021-01464-6

Abstract: The 2019-20 wildfires in eastern Australia presented a globally important opportunity to evaluate the respective roles of climatic drivers and natural and anthropogenic disturbances in causing high-severity fires. Here, we show the overwhelming dominance of fire weather in causing complete scorch or consumption of forest canopies in natural and plantation forests in three regions across the geographic range of these fires. S ling 32% (2.35 Mha) of the area burnt we found that >44% of the native forests suffered severe canopy damage. Past logging and wildfire disturbance in natural forests had a very low effect on severe canopy damage, reflecting the limited extent logged in the last 25 years (4.5% in eastern Victoria, 5.3% in southern New South Wales (NSW) and 7.8% in northern NSW). The most important variables determining severe canopy damage were broad spatial factors (mostly topographic) followed by fire weather. Timber plantations affected by fire were concentrated in NSW and 26% were burnt by the fires and >70% of the NSW plantations suffered severe canopy damage showing that this intensive means of wood production is extremely vulnerable to wildfire. The massive geographic scale and severity of these Australian fires is best explained by extrinsic factors: an historically anomalous drought coupled with strong, hot dry westerly winds that caused uninterrupted, and often dangerous, fire weather over the entire fire season.

Paradise burnt: How colonizing humans transform landscapes with fire

Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Date: 30-11-2010

DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.1016393108

Bring elephants to Australia?

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 02-2012

DOI: 10.1038/482030A

Conservation Value of Non-Native Banteng in Northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 30-06-2006

DOI: 10.1111/J.1523-1739.2006.00428.X

Abstract: The global species extinction crisis has provided the impetus for elaborate translocation, captive breeding, and cloning programs, but more extreme actions may be necessary. We used mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome, and nuclear lactoferrin-encoding gene sequencing to identify a wild population of a pure-strain endangered bovid (Bos javanicus) introduced into northern Australia over 150 years ago. This places the Australian population in a different conservation category relative to its domesticated conspecific in Indonesia (i.e., Bali cattle) that has varying degrees of introgression from other domesticated Bos spp. The success of this endangered non-native species demonstrates that although risky, the deliberate introduction of threatened exotic species into non-native habitat may provide, under some circumstances, a biologically feasible option for conserving large herbivores otherwise imperiled in their native range.

Macroecology of Australian tall eucalypt forests: baseline data from a continental-scale permanent plot network

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 14-09-2015

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0137811

Air quality policy and fire management responses addressing smoke from wildland fires in the United States and Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2017

DOI: 10.1071/WF16154

Abstract: Wildland fire emissions degrade air quality and visibility, having adverse economic, health and visibility impacts at large spatial scales globally. Air quality regulations can constrain the goals of landscape resilience and management of fire-dependent ecosystems. Here, we review the air quality regulatory framework in the United States, comparing this framework with that of Australia. In the United States, wildland fire management and air quality policies have evolved independently, yet interact to meet erse public needs. Australian policy development is more recent and decentralised. We find that (1) for maxiumum effectiveness, smoke and fire regulatory frameworks must keep pace with scientific evidence, environmental and social change, and be accompanied by clear regulatory guidance (2) episodic, non-stationary qualities of fire, and its role in ecosystems, pose specific challenges to regulators and policy-makers and (3) the complexity of industry-focused air quality policies often leads to unintended consequences for fire management. More research is needed to create and implement more effective fire and air policies and better prepare social-ecological systems to address the challenges of climate change mitigation. These insights may be helpful for countries initially developing complementary fire and air policies, especially as the role of fire becomes more important geopolitically and globally.

Creating an Integrated Historical Record of Extreme Particulate Air Pollution Events in Australian Cities from 1994 to 2007

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 04-2011

DOI: 10.3155/1047-3289.61.4.390

Abstract: Epidemiological studies of exposure to vegetation fire smoke are often limited by the availability of accurate exposure data. This paper describes a systematic framework for retrospectively identifying the cause of air pollution events to facilitate a long, multicenter analysis of the public health effects of vegetation fire smoke pollution in Australia. Pollution events were statistically defined as any day at or above the 95th percentile of the 24-hr average concentration of particulate matter (PM). These were identified for six cities from three distinct ecoclimatic regions of Australia. The dates of each event were then crosschecked against a range of information sources, including online newspaper archives, government and research agency records, satellite imagery, and aerosol optical thickness measures to identify the cause for the excess particulate pollution. Pollution events occurred most frequently during summer for cities in subtropical and arid regions and during winter for cities in temperate regions. A cause for high PM on 67% of days examined in the city of Sydney was found, and 94% of these could be attributed to landscape fire smoke. Results were similar for cities in other subtropical and arid locations. Identification of the cause of pollution events was much lower in colder temperate regions where fire activity is less frequent. Bushfires were the most frequent cause of extreme pollution events in cities located in subtropical and arid regions of Australia. Although identification of pollution episodes was greatly improved by the use of multiple sources of information, satellite imagery was the most useful tool for identifying bushfire smoke pollution events.

Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2011

DOI: 10.1071/WR10174

Abstract: Context Some large herbivores introduced to Australia have achieved population densities so high as to cause considerable ecological damage. Intriguingly, others have been relatively less successful and have correspondingly perturbed their new environments less. An excellent ex le is two similar-sized bovine species that established feral populations in the Northern Territory of Australia in the mid-19th century. Asian sw buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) rapidly colonised the tropical savannas, causing ecological degradation, especially on freshwater sw s. In contrast, banteng (Bos javanicus) are restricted to their point of introduction and have caused relatively negligible ecological damage. Understanding the reasons of this differential success is of theoretical and applied interest and contributes to managing large herbivore populations for ex situ conservation and feral-animal control. Aims To compare the population structure of buffalo and banteng on the basis of shot s les, so as to construct life tables for four contemporary (low-density) buffalo populations, and collated data from previous work from three historical (high-density) buffalo populations and one banteng population (the only extant ex situ population in existence). Further, to provide a validation of age estimation with and without informed priors in a Bayesian model comparing horn length and ages estimated from tooth cementum annuli. Finally, to interpret our results in the context of relative invasion potential of the two bovid species. Key Results For both species, survival of juveniles was the most important demographic component influencing deterministic population growth. However, buffalo have the demographic capacity to recover swiftly after control because of high survival and fertility rates across a range of population densities. Fertility of buffalo was historically greater than that of banteng, and buffalo fertility increased as their populations were reduced. Conclusions These findings highlight how subtle differences in demographic rates and feeding ecology can influence the success (high population growth and range expansion) of large herbivores, knowledge which is increasingly important for managing invasive species effectively. Implications We show that that in idual life-history traits and demographic performance, especially fertility, play an important role in determining the spread of invasive bovids in a novel environment.

Human exposure and sensitivity to globally extreme wildfire events

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 06-02-2017

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-016-0058

Abstract: Extreme wildfires have substantial economic, social and environmental impacts, but there is uncertainty whether such events are inevitable features of the Earth's fire ecology or a legacy of poor management and planning. We identify 478 extreme wildfire events defined as the daily clusters of fire radiative power from MODIS, within a global 10 × 10 km lattice, between 2002 and 2013, which exceeded the 99.997th percentile of over 23 million cases of the ΣFRP 100 km

Predicting the future range and abundance of fallow deer in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2014

DOI: 10.1071/WR13206

Abstract: Context Since the introduction of fallow deer (Dama dama) to Tasmania in the early 1830s, the management of the species has been conflicted the species is partially protected as a recreational hunting resource, yet simultaneously recognised as an invasive species because of its environmental impact and the biosecurity risk that it poses. The range and abundance of fallow deer in Tasmania has evidently increased over the past three decades. In the 1970s, it was estimated that ~7000–8000 deer were distributed in three distinct subpopulations occupying a region of ~400 000 ha (generally centred around the original introduction sites). By the early 2000s, the estimated population size had more than tripled to ~20 000–30 000 deer occupying 2.1 million ha. No study has attempted to predict what further growth in this population is likely. Aims The purpose of our study was to provide a preliminary estimate of the future population range and abundance of fallow deer in Tasmania under different management scenarios. Methods We developed a spatially explicit, deterministic population model for fallow deer in Tasmania, based on estimates of demographic parameters linked to a species distribution model. Spatial variation in abundance was incorporated into the model by setting carrying capacity as a function of climate suitability. Key results On the basis of a conservative estimate of population growth for the species, and without active management beyond the current policy of hunting and crop protection permits, abundance of fallow deer is estimated to increase substantially in the next 10 years. Uncontrolled, the population could exceed 1 million animals by the middle of the 21st century. This potential increase is a function both of local increase in abundance and extension of range. Conclusions Our results identify areas at high risk of impact from fallow deer in the near future, including ecologically sensitive areas of Tasmania (e.g. the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area). Implications The research approach and results are presented as a contribution to debate and decisions about the management of fallow deer in Tasmania. In particular, they provide a considered basis for anticipating future impacts of deer in Tasmania and prioritising management to mitigate impact in ecologically sensitive areas.

Has global environmental change caused monsoon rainforests to expand in the Australian monsoon tropics?

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 24-06-2010

DOI: 10.1007/S10980-010-9496-8

The Australian Summer Monsoon: a Biogeographic Perspective

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-2002

DOI: 10.1111/1467-8470.00179

Manage fire regimes, not fires

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 07-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41561-021-00791-4

Is the carpentarian rock-rat Zyzomys palatalis critically endangered?

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2006

DOI: 10.1071/PC060134

Abstract: The Carpentarian Rock-rat Zyzomys palatalis is a rare conilurine rodent with a global distribution restricted to a small area of sandstone escarpments in the Gulf of Carpentaria region of the Northern Territory. Previous assessments of its World Conservation Union (IUCN) status in 1996 had classified the species as Critically Endangered based on the restricted area of occupancy and a putative decline in the extent and quality of its closed forest habitat due to uncontrolled landscape fires. A later population viability analysis confirmed that habitat loss was potentially the single most important threatening process. Here we argue that the species should be reclassified as Vulnerable, on the basis of the following new evidence: (1) the assumption that it was a closed forest specialist was not supported by a radiotracking study, which showed that on average 43% of an in idual's monitored time was spent in the forest-savannah margin, and (2) analysis of repeat historical aerial photography has shown that the core closed forest habitat has in fact increased by 36% over the last 50 years. This has lead to an increase of 140 in the minimum number of equivalent Z. paJatalis territories, from 387 to 587, when home range overlaps and utilization of the savannah margins are considered. Reclassification of the species' conservation status should be accompanied with: (i) genetic studies of relatedness between isolated populations (ii) monitoring and maintenance of the integrity of the landscapes, including creeklines that connect patches and (iii) consideration of the introduction of captive bred specimens into an adjacent unoccupied fragments.

Effects of high‐severity fire drove the population collapse of the subalpine Tasmanian endemic conifer Athrotaxis cupressoides

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 18-08-2014

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12674

Abstract: Athrotaxis cupressoides is a slow‐growing and long‐lived conifer that occurs in the subalpine temperate forests of Tasmania, a continental island to the south of Australia. In 1960–1961, human‐ignited wildfires occurred during an extremely dry summer that killed many A. cupressoides stands on the high plateau in the center of Tasmania. That fire year, coupled with subsequent regeneration failure, caused a loss of ca. 10% of the geographic extent of this endemic Tasmanian forest type. To provide historical context for these large‐scale fire events, we (i) collected dendroecological, floristic, and structural data, (ii) documented the postfire survival and regeneration of A. cupressoides and co‐occurring understory species, and (iii) assessed postfire understory plant community composition and flammability. We found that fire frequency did not vary following the arrival of European settlers, and that A. cupressoides populations were able to persist under a regime of low‐to‐mid severity fires prior to the 1960 fires. Our data indicate that the 1960 fires were (i) of greater severity than previous fires, (ii) herbivory by native marsupials may limit seedling survival in both burned and unburned A. cupressoides stands, and (iii) the loss of A. cupressoides populations is largely irreversible given the relatively high fuel loads of postfire vegetation communities that are dominated by resprouting shrubs. We suggest that the feedback between regeneration failure and increased flammability will be further exacerbated by a warmer and drier climate causing A. cupressoides to contract to the most fire‐proof landscape settings.

Cause and effects of a megafire in sedge-heathland in the Tasmanian temperate wilderness

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1071/BT16087

Abstract: The World Heritage wilderness of south-western Tasmania contains a complex vegetation mosaic of eucalypt forest, myrtaceous scrub and fire-sensitive rainforest embedded in highly flammable sedge–heathland. Aboriginal burning shaped this temperate region for millennia, and large, severe wildfires have prevailed since European settlement in the early 19th century. In 2013, the Giblin River fire burnt 45 000 ha of wilderness, most of which was sedge-heathland. We surveyed the fire footprint, and an adjacent management burn, to investigate the drivers of fire severity in sedge-heathland and to assess the regeneration response of woody vegetation and how these were influenced by antecedent fire histories. Analyses based on multi-model inference identified time since fire as the most important driver of sedge-heathland fire severity, as measured by diameter of burnt twigs. Mortality was high for both main stems (98%) and whole plants (91%), with only 16% of dead stems resprouting. Resprouting and seedling establishment were little affected by fire severity. The value of prescribed burning in reducing both the extent and severity of wildfires in the south-western Tasmanian landscape, and in maintaining stand-age heterogeneity, is illustrated by the wildfire having self-extinguished on the boundary of the management burn.

Abrupt fire regime change may cause landscape‐wide loss of mature obligate seeder forests

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-01-2014

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12433

Abstract: Obligate seeder trees requiring high-severity fires to regenerate may be vulnerable to population collapse if fire frequency increases abruptly. We tested this proposition using a long-lived obligate seeding forest tree, alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis), in the Australian Alps. Since 2002, 85% of the Alps bioregion has been burnt by several very large fires, tracking the regional trend of more frequent extreme fire weather. High-severity fires removed 25% of aboveground tree biomass, and switched fuel arrays from low loads of herbaceous and litter fuels to high loads of flammable shrubs and juvenile trees, priming regenerating stands for subsequent fires. Single high-severity fires caused adult mortality and triggered mass regeneration, but a second fire in quick succession killed 97% of the regenerating alpine ash. Our results indicate that without interventions to reduce fire severity, interactions between flammability of regenerating stands and increased extreme fire weather will eliminate much of the remaining mature alpine ash forest.

Land management affects grass biomass in the Eucalyptus tetrodonta savannas of monsoonal Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-05-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2007.01713.X

Exceedances of national air quality standards for particulate matter in Western Australia: sources and health‐related impacts

Publisher: AMPCo

Date: 12-03-2020

DOI: 10.5694/MJA2.50547

Using carbon isotope analysis of the diet of two introduced Australian megaherbivores to understand Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 03-2010

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2009.02206.X

Forest-sedgeland boundaries are historically stable and resilient to wildfire at Blakes Opening in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 28-11-2023

DOI: 10.1007/S10980-022-01558-X

Wildfire risk as a socioecological pathology

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-2016

DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1283

Contemporary landscape burning patterns in the far North Kimberley region of north‐west Australia: human influences and environmental determinants

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 16-07-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2004.01104.X

Aborigine-managed forest, savanna and grassland: Biome switching in montane eastern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-04-2014

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12306

Tropical tree stand structures on a seasonally flooded elevation gradient in northern Australia

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 05-1996

DOI: 10.1080/00049189608703155

Big eucalypts grow more slowly in a warm climate: evidence of an interaction between tree size and temperature

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-04-2014

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12540

Abstract: Large trees are critical components of forest ecosystems, but are declining in many forests worldwide. We predicted that growth of large trees is more vulnerable than that of small trees to high temperatures, because respiration and tissue maintenance costs increase with temperature more rapidly than does photosynthesis and these costs may be disproportionately greater in large trees. Using 5 00 000 measurements of eucalypt growth across temperate Australia, we found that high temperatures do appear to impose a larger growth penalty on large trees than on small ones. Average stem diameter growth rates at 21 °C compared with 11 °C mean annual temperature were 57% lower for large trees (58 cm stem diameter), but only 29% lower for small trees (18 cm diameter). While our results are consistent with an impaired carbon budget for large trees at warmer sites, we cannot discount causes such as hydraulic stress. We conclude that slower growth rates will impede recovery from extreme events, exacerbating the effects of higher temperatures, increased drought stress and more frequent fire on the tall eucalypt forests of southern Australia.

Unprecedented smoke‐related health burden associated with the 2019–20 bushfires in eastern Australia

Publisher: AMPCo

Date: 12-03-2020

DOI: 10.5694/MJA2.50545

Diversity helps fight wildfires

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 07-2019

DOI: 10.1038/D41586-019-02246-8

Conservation of Mobile Species in a Variable Environment: The Problem of Reserve Design in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 1992

DOI: 10.2307/2997325

Net woody vegetation increase confined to seasonally inundated lowlands in an Australian tropical savanna, Victoria River District, Northern Territory

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2004.01407.X

Living on a flammable planet: interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 05-06-2016

DOI: 10.1098/RSTB.2015.0469

Abstract: Living with fire is a challenge for human communities because they are influenced by socio-economic, political, ecological and climatic processes at various spatial and temporal scales. Over the course of 2 days, the authors discussed how communities could live with fire challenges at local, national and transnational scales. Exploiting our erse, international and interdisciplinary expertise, we outline generalizable properties of fire-adaptive communities in varied settings where cultural knowledge of fire is rich and erse. At the national scale, we discussed policy and management challenges for countries that have diminishing fire knowledge, but for whom global climate change will bring new fire problems. Finally, we assessed major fire challenges that transcend national political boundaries, including the health burden of smoke plumes and the climate consequences of wildfires. It is clear that to best address the broad range of fire problems, a holistic wildfire scholarship must develop common agreement in working terms and build across disciplines. We must also communicate our understanding of fire and its importance to the media, politicians and the general public. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

What is the relevance of pyrogeography to the Anthropocene?

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 28-08-2014

DOI: 10.1177/2053019614547742

Abstract: A defining feature of both the Anthropocene concept and the new discipline of pyrogeography is combustion of carbon-rich fuels by humans. A key objective of pyrogeography is understanding to what degree landscape fires set by hominins has overwritten natural fires through geological time, and whether these changes had substantial ecological knock-on effects. This research is essential to precisely define the onset of the Anthropocene. Nonetheless, the commonly used imprecise definition that the Anthropocene commenced at 1780 is a useful organising principle for pyrogeography because it provides a framework to understand the synergistic effects of anthropogenic global environment changes in shaping global fire activity following the Industrial Revolution.

Interval squeeze: altered fire regimes and demographic responses interact to threaten woody species persistence as climate changes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-2015

DOI: 10.1890/140231

Fire caused demographic attrition of the Tasmanian palaeoendemic conifer Athrotaxis cupressoides

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-10-2019

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12789

Livistona palms in Australia: Ancient relics or opportunistic immigrants?

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2010

DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2009.09.020

Abstract: Eighteen of the 34 species of the fan palm genus Livistona (Arecaceae) are restricted to Australia and southern New Guinea, east of Wallace's Line, an ancient biogeographic boundary between the former supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana. The remaining species extend from SE Asia to Africa, west of Wallace's Line. Competing hypotheses contend that Livistona is (a) ancient, its current distribution a relict of the supercontinents, or (b) a Miocene immigrant from the north into Australia as it drifted towards Asia. We have tested these hypotheses using Bayesian and penalized likelihood molecular dating based on 4Kb of nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences with multiple fossil calibration points. Ancestral areas and biomes were reconstructed using parsimony and maximum likelihood. We found strong support for the second hypothesis, that a single Livistona ancestor colonized Australia from the north about 10-17Ma. Spread and ersification of the genus within Australia was likely favoured by a transition from the aseasonal wet to monsoonal biome, to which it could have been preadapted by fire-tolerance.

High post-fire mortality of resprouting woody plants in Tasmanian Mediterranean-type vegetation

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2017

DOI: 10.1071/WF16211

Abstract: Plant regeneration strategies are commonly dichotomised as ‘resprouter’ v. ‘non-resprouter’, but this fails to recognise that the extent and type of resprouting following fire disturbance vary within species. Here, we report a case of widespread mortality of resprouters following a fire that burnt 98% of an 80-km2 island in Bass Strait, Australia. A field survey, which assessed woody vegetation in 197 plots across the island, showed fire severity ranged from low to high, with crown defoliation occurring across 85% of the island. In total, 1826 of the 1831 woody stems in the burnt plots were top-killed. Only 7.5% resprouted, despite 89% of the stems belonging to species that have the capacity to resprout. Even in species with at least 5% resprouting, only 22% of top-killed stems resprouted. Resprouting rates were maximal (30%) at intermediate fire severity, and only 5 and 8% at the lowest and highest severity classes respectively. Our findings demonstrate the need to understand factors influencing resprouting, and to incorporate these when modelling vegetation recovery after wildfire.

Validating putatively cross-dated Callitris tree-ring chronologies using bomb-pulse radiocarbon analysis

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2011

DOI: 10.1071/BT10164

Abstract: Nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s generated an atmospheric pulse of the carbon isotope, 14C. Worldwide, trees growing during that period and in subsequent decades assimilated 14C-enriched CO2, leaving a distinct isotopic signature that can be used to precisely date tree rings. Thirty single-ring s les were extracted for AMS 14C analysis from cores taken from living trees of five different Callitris species [C. endlicheri (Parl.) F.M. Bailey, C. glaucophylla Joy Thomps. & L.A.S. Johnson, C. intratropica Benth., C. preissii Miq., and C. rhomboidea R.Br. ex Rich. & A. Rich] at 13 sites. The ages of in idual tree rings were determined by both 14C bomb-pulse dating and cross-dating (based on 20–30 cores from the same site) in order to (1) provide independent verification of tree-ring dates, (2) detect false or missing rings from sites with otherwise good chronologies, and (3) test whether growth rings were annual for cores from sites where cross-dating was not possible. Our approach confirmed dates on chronologies from monsoon tropical sites, provided checked chronologies in subtropical and temperate sites, and improved dating control on arid-zone ring counts. It was found that Callitris are more likely to form regular annual rings when growing in seasonally dry environments than in more arid sites with highly variable precipitation patterns.

A warmer world will reduce tree growth in evergreen broadleaf forests: Evidence from Australian temperate and subtropical eucalypt forests

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-04-2014

DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12171

Munmarlary revisited: Response of a north Australian Eucalyptus tetrodonta savanna protected from fire for 20 years

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-1995

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1995.TB00571.X

What limits the distribution and abundance of the native conifer Callitris glaucophylla (Cupressaceae) in the West MacDonnell Ranges, central Australia?

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1071/BT10045

Abstract: The conifer Callitris glaucophylla J.Thompson & L.A.S.Johnson (Cupressaceae) is a fire-sensitive obligate seeder with a heavily fragmented distribution across the Australian continent. We undertook a broad-scale biophysical survey and analysed the population structure of 21 populations in the West MacDonnell Ranges of central Australia. C. glaucophylla had a patchy distribution associated with steep, rocky metamorphic areas with limited evidence of fire. Variation in population structures was clearly related to recent fire history. Nearly half of ‘adult’ C. glaucophylla trees ( -cm stem diameter) from the s led stands were dead, with the proportion at in idual sites related to evidence of fire. Fire scars were evident on 48% of all live trees we measured. The overall density of live adult trees conformed to a negative exponential size-class distribution, consistent with a regionally stable population structure. However, we found higher sapling densities and lower seedlings densities than expected by this distribution. This regional peak in the sapling size class reflects a pulse of recruitment, possibly associated with a wet period in the 1970s. Low seedling densities are probably due to subsequent drought. We conclude that fire controls the distribution of Callitris on the West MacDonnell Ranges, and the timing of recruitment depends on rainfall patterns.

Predicting the minimum height of forest fire smoke within the atmosphere using machine learning and data from the CALIPSO satellite

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.RSE.2017.12.027

Geographic Variation in the Demographic Structure of Stands of Eucalyptus delegatensis R. T. Baker on Dolerite in Tasmania

Publisher: JSTOR

Date: 09-1984

DOI: 10.2307/2844806

Detecting trends in tree growth: not so simple

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.TPLANTS.2012.08.005

Abstract: Tree biomass influences biogeochemical cycles, climate, and bio ersity across local to global scales. Understanding the environmental control of tree biomass demands consideration of the drivers of in idual tree growth over their lifespan. This can be achieved by studies of tree growth in permanent s le plots (prospective studies) and tree ring analyses (retrospective studies). However, identification of growth trends and attribution of their drivers demands statistical control of the axiomatic co-variation of tree size and age, and avoiding s ling biases at the stand, forest, and regional scales. Tracking and predicting the effects of environmental change on tree biomass requires well-designed studies that address the issues that we have reviewed.

Estimated Global Mortality Attributable to Smoke from Landscape Fires

Publisher: Environmental Health Perspectives

Date: 05-2012

DOI: 10.1289/EHP.1104422

Establishment, Suppression and Growth of Eucalyptus delegatensis R.T. Baker In Multiaged Forests .III. Intraspecific Allelopathy, Competition Between Adult and Juvenile for Moisture and Nutrients, and

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1986

DOI: 10.1071/BT9860081

Abstract: Field and pot experiments were designed to test the relative roles of allelopathy, competition for moisture and competition for nutrients in the suppression and growth of Eucalyptus delegatensis. In pot experiments litter cover was associated with slightly slower growth rates than in other treatments. A fertilization treatment was associated with increased growth rates in both trenched and untrenched situations in a field experiment, but the effect of fertilization was subdued in comparison with the effects of trenching or of total tree removal in the clear-felling treatment. Saplings and seedlings in the forest were under significantly greater moisture stress, as indicated by xylem pressure potential and stomata1 resistance, than those growing in the adjacent clear-felled areas. Surface soils in clear-felled areas had moisture contents above the level which caused seedling stress while surface soils within the forest were often below this level. These findings suggest that adult trees suppress seedling and sapling regrowth largely through their effect on soil moisture. However, another form of seedling growth suppression also occurs in the open as a result of frost damage.

River Flows are a Reliable Index of Forest Fire Risk in the Temperate Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 04-03-2021

DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS202103.0173.V1

Abstract: Fire risk can be defined as the probability that a fire will spread. Reliable monitoring of fire risk is essential for effective landscape management. Compilation of fire risk records enable identification of seasonal and inter-annual patterns and provide a baseline to evaluate the trajectories in response to climate change. Typically, fire risk is estimated from meteorological data. In regions with sparse meteorological station coverage environmental proxies provide important additional data stream for estimating past and current fire risk. Here we use a 60-year record of daily flows from two rivers (Franklin and Davey) in the remote Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) to characterize seasonal patterns in fire risk in temperate Eucalyptus and rainforests. We show that river flows are strongly related to landscape soil moisture estimates derived from down-scaled re-analysis of meteorological data available since 1990. To identify river flow thresholds where forests are likely to burn, we relate river flows to known forest fires that have occurred in the previously defined ecohydrological domains that surround the Franklin and Davey catchments. Our analysis shows that the fire season in the TWWHA is centered on February (70% of all years below the median threshold), with shoulders on December-January and March. Since 1954 forest fire can occur in at least one month for all but four summers in the ecohydrological domain that includes the Franklin catchment, and since 1964 fire fires could occur in at least one month in every summer in the ecohydrological domain that includes the Davey catchment. Our analysis shows that mangers can use river flows as a simple index that provide a landscape-scale forest fire risk in the TWWHA.

Fire ecology

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 10-2007

DOI: 10.1177/0309133307083298

Pyrogeographic models, feedbacks and the future of global fire regimes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 20-04-2014

DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12180

Customary use of fire by indigenous peoples in northern Australia: its contemporary role in savanna management

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2003

DOI: 10.1071/WF03027

Abstract: The extent to which use of fire by Aboriginal peoples shaped the landscapes and biota of Australia is a contentious issue. Equally contentious is the proposition that attempts should be made to support and re-establish customary practice. Some dismiss Aboriginal practice as little more than culturally endorsed pyromania, and consequences for land, vegetation and wildlife management as incidental and unintended outcomes. We argue that this view of Aboriginal practice is at odds with available evidence regarding motivations for use of fire, and detailed and sophisticated descriptions of the consequences of poor fire management for the maintenance of important resources. We suggest that misunderstanding arises, at least in part, from the contrasting views that (i) objectives of Aboriginal land managers and the values they seek to extract and maintain in savanna landscapes are or should be similar to those of non-Indigenous land managers or (ii) the notion that their goals are inherently and entirely incompatible with those of non-indigenous interests. We illustrate our argument with ex les that include assessments of ecological consequences of 'prescribed' Aboriginal practice, statements from Aboriginal people regarding their objectives in applying those prescriptions, and the level of active organisation required for their effective implementation. Finally, we propose mechanisms for wider application of Aboriginal prescriptions in tropical landscapes to meet a range of land management objectives.

Savanna Vegetation-Fire-Climate Relationships Differ Among Continents

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 31-01-2014

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.1247355

Abstract: Savannas are structurally similar across the three major continents where they occur, leading to the assumption that the factors controlling vegetation structure and function are broadly similar, too. Lehmann et al. (p. 548 ) report the results of an extensive analysis of ground-based tree abundance in savannas, s led at more than 2000 sites in Africa, Australia, and South America. All savannas, independent of region, shared a common functional property in the way that moisture and fire regulated tree abundance. However, despite qualitative similarity in the moisture–fire–tree-biomass relationships among continents, key quantitative differences exist among the three regions, presumably as a result of unique evolutionary histories and climatic domains.

Diet of four rock‐dwelling macropods in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-10-2006

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2006.01644.X

Isotopic (¹³C and ¹⁴C) evidence supporting the transformative effect of cattle on north Australian vegetation

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 16-07-2004

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2004.01122.X

Aboriginal myth meets DNA analysis

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 04-2015

DOI: 10.1038/520033A

Sources of carbon isotope variation in kangaroo bone collagen and tooth enamel

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2007

DOI: 10.1016/J.GCA.2007.05.012

Fire ecology

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 06-2005

DOI: 10.1191/0309133305PP446PR

Modeling vegetation mosaics in sub-alpine Tasmania under various fire regimes

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 24-07-2015

DOI: 10.1007/S40808-015-0019-0

Multiscale modelling of the drivers of rainforest boundary dynamics in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 06-2007

DOI: 10.1111/J.1472-4642.2007.00371.X

Human–environmental drivers and impacts of the globally extreme 2017 Chilean fires

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 20-08-2018

DOI: 10.1007/S13280-018-1084-1

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 31-12-2019

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14904

Abstract: Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to bio ersity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on in idual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Water, land, fire, and forest: Multi-scale determinants of rainforests in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-02-2017

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.2734

Genetic evidence for paternal inheritance of the chloroplast in four Australian Callitris species (Cupressaceae)

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 02-2014

DOI: 10.1007/S10310-012-0384-8

Evaluating User Preferences, Comprehension, and Trust in Apps for Environmental Health Hazards: Qualitative Case Study

Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.

Date: 22-12-2022

DOI: 10.2196/38471

Abstract: Climate change is projected to increase environmental health hazard risks through fire-related air pollution and increased airborne pollen levels. To protect vulnerable populations, it is imperative that evidence-based and accessible interventions are available. The environmental health app, AirRater, was developed in 2015 in Australia to provide information on multiple atmospheric health hazards in near real time. The app allows users to view local environmental conditions, and input and track their personal symptoms to enable behaviors that protect health in response to environmental hazards. This study aimed to develop insights into users’ perceptions of engagement, comprehension, and trust in AirRater to inform the future development of environmental health apps. Specifically, this study explored which AirRater features users engaged with, what additional features or functionality needs users felt they required, users’ self-perception of understanding app information, and their level of trust in the information provided. A total of 42 adult AirRater users were recruited from 3 locations in Australia to participate in semistructured interviews to capture location- or context-specific experiences. Participants were notified of the recruitment opportunity through multiple avenues including newsletter articles and social media. Informed consent was obtained before participation, and the participants were remunerated for their time and perspectives. A preinterview questionnaire collected data including age range, any preexisting conditions, and location (postcode). All participant data were deidentified. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo 12 (QSR International). Participants discussed app features and functionality, as well as their understanding of, and trust in, the information provided by the app. Most (26/42, 62%) participants used and valued visual environmental hazard features, especially maps, location settings, and hazard alerts. Most (33/42, 78%) found information in the app easy to understand and support their needs, irrespective of their self-reported literacy levels. Many (21/42, 50%) users reported that they did not question the accuracy of the data presented in the app. Suggested enhancements include the provision of meteorological information (eg, wind speed or direction, air pressure, UV rating, and humidity), functionality enhancements (eg, forecasting, additional alerts, and the inclusion of health advice), and clarification of existing information (eg, symptom triggers), including the capacity to download personal summary data for a specified period. Participants’ perspectives can inform the future development of environmental health apps. Specifically, participants’ insights support the identification of key elements for the optimal development of environmental health app design, including streamlining, capacity for users to customize, use of real time data, visual cues, credibility, and accuracy of data. The results also suggest that, in the future, iterative collaboration between developers, environmental agencies, and users will likely promote better functional design, user trust in the data, and ultimately better population health outcomes.

Healthy Country: Healthy People? Exploring the health benefits of Indigenous natural resource management

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2005

DOI: 10.1111/J.1467-842X.2005.TB00060.X

Abstract: Decades of health-related research have produced a large body of knowledge describing alarming rates of morbidity, mortality and social/cultural disruption among Indigenous Australians, but have failed to deliver sustainable interventions to arrest the deepening spiral of ill-health. This paper explores the potential of Indigenous natural resource management (NRM) activities to promote and preserve Indigenous health in remote areas of northern Australia. A literature review of the health, social science and ecology peer-reviewed journals and secondary literature. Effective interventions in Indigenous health will require trans-disciplinary, holistic approaches that explicitly incorporate Indigenous health beliefs and engage with the social and cultural drivers of health. Aboriginal peoples maintain a strong belief that continued association with and caring for ancestral lands is a key determinant of health. In idual engagement with 'country' provides opportunities for physical activity and improved diet as well as boosting in idual autonomy and self-esteem. Internationally, such culturally congruent health promotion activities have been successful in programs targeting substance abuse and chronic diseases. NRM is fundamental to the maintenance of bio ersity of northern Australia. Increased support for Indigenous involvement in land and sea NRM programs would also deliver concrete social benefits for communities including opportunities for sustainable and culturally apt regional employment, applied education and economic development. NRM may also reinvigorate societal/cultural constructs, increasing collective esteem and social cohesion.

A Satellite Analysis of Contrasting Fire Patterns in Aboriginal- and Euro-Australian Lands in Tropical North Australia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 06-2007

DOI: 10.4996/FIREECOLOGY.0301032

Using a rainforest-flame forest mosaic to test the hypothesis that leaf and litter fuel flammability is under natural selection

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-2019

DOI: 10.1007/S00442-014-3071-Y

Abstract: We used a mosaic of infrequently burnt temperate rainforest and adjacent, frequently burnt eucalypt forests in temperate eastern Australia to test whether: (1) there were differences in flammability of fresh and dried foliage amongst congeners from contrasting habitats, (2) habitat flammability was related to regeneration strategy, (3) litter fuels were more flammable in frequently burnt forests, (4) the severity of a recent fire influenced the flammability of litter (as this would suggest fire feedbacks), and (5) microclimate contributed to differences in fire hazard amongst habitats. Leaf-level comparisons were made among 11 congeneric pairs from rainforest and eucalypt forests. Leaf-level ignitability, combustibility and sustainability were not consistently higher for taxa from frequently burnt eucalypt forests, nor were they higher for species with fire-driven recruitment. The bulk density of litter-bed fuels strongly influenced flammability, but eucalypt forest litter was not less dense than rainforest litter. Ignitability, combustibility and flame sustainability of community surface fuels (litter) were compared using fuel arrays with standardized fuel mass and moisture content. Forests previously burned at high fire severity did not have consistently higher litter flammability than those burned at lower severity or long unburned. Thus, contrary to the Mutch hypothesis, there was no evidence of higher flammability of litter fuels or leaves from frequently burnt eucalypt forests compared with infrequently burnt rainforests. We suggest the manifest pyrogenicity of eucalypt forests is not due to natural selection for more flammable foliage, but better explained by differences in crown openness and associated microclimatic differences.

Establishment, Suppression and Growth of Eucalyptus delegatensis R.T. Baker In Multiaged Forests .II. Sapling Growth and Its Environmental Correlates

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1986

DOI: 10.1071/BT9860073

Abstract: Seedling and sapling regrowth occupies gaps and includes part of the understorey in the multiaged Eucalyptus delegatensis dry forests of central Tasmania. This regrowth is even-aged for any particular area. Variation in sapling height is symmetrical across east to west sections of gaps, 20-50 m diam., but asymmetrical in the north to south sections, where the tallest seedlings are found to the south. Density, height, diameter and wet weight of E. delegatensis regrowth are highly positively correlated with the distance to the nearest tree but are only related to solar radiation in the gaps. Concentrations of most major plant nutrients in the surface soil, and soil moisture-holding capacity, have no strong relationship with the various growth measures. Thus, adult trees suppress sapling growth independent of incident solar radiation, while sapling growth outside the influence of adult trees increases with increasing incident solar radiation.

Characterising non-linear associations between airborne pollen counts and respiratory symptoms from the AirRater smartphone app in Tasmania, Australia: A case time series approach

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2021.111484

Evolution of an extreme Pyrocumulonimbus-driven wildfire event in Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 19-12-2019

DOI: 10.5194/NHESS-2019-354

Abstract: Abstract. Extreme fires have substantial adverse effects on society and natural ecosystems. Such events can be associated with intense coupling of fire behaviour with the atmosphere, resulting in extreme fire characteristics such as pyrocumulonimbus cloud (pyroCb) development. Concern that anthropogenic climate change is increasing the occurrence of pyroCbs globally is driving more focused research into these meteorological phenomena. Using 6-minute scans from a nearby weather radar, we describe the development of a pyroCb during the afternoon of 4 January 2013 above the Forcett-Dunalley fire in south-eastern Tasmania. We relate storm development to: (1) near-surface weather using the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI), and the C-Haines Index, a measure of the vertical atmospheric stability and dryness both derived from gridded weather reanalysis for Tasmania (BARRA-TA), and (2) a chronosequence of fire severity derived from remote sensing. We show that the pyroCb rapidly developed over a 24-minute period in the afternoon of 4 January, with the cloud top reaching a height of 15 km. The pyroCb was associated with a highly unstable atmosphere (C-Haines 10-11) and Severe-marginally Extreme (FFDI 60-75) near-surface fire weather, and formed over an area of forest that was severely burned (total crown defoliation). We use spatial patterns of elevated fire weather in Tasmania, and fire weather during major runs of large wildfires in Tasmania for the period 2007–2016 to geographically and historically contextualise this pyroCb event. Although the Forcett-Dunalley fire is the only known record of a pyroCb in Tasmania, our results show that eastern and south-eastern Tasmania are prone to the conjunction of high FFDI and C-Haines values that have been associated with pyroCb development. Our findings have implications for fire weather forecasting and wildfire management, and highlight the vulnerability of southeast Tasmania to extreme fire events.

Giant eucalypts – globally unique fire‐adapted rain‐forest trees?

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-2012

DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2012.04359.X

Abstract: Tree species exceeding 70 m in height are rare globally. Giant gymnosperms are concentrated near the Pacific coast of the USA , while the tallest angiosperms are eucalypts ( E ucalyptus spp.) in southern and eastern Australia. Giant eucalypts co‐occur with rain‐forest trees in eastern Australia, creating unique vegetation communities comprising fire‐dependent trees above fire‐intolerant rain‐forest. However, giant eucalypts can also tower over shrubby understoreys (e.g. in Western Australia). The local abundance of giant eucalypts is controlled by interactions between fire activity and landscape setting. Giant eucalypts have features that increase flammability (e.g. oil‐rich foliage and open crowns) relative to other rain‐forest trees but it is debatable if these features are adaptations. Probable drivers of eucalypt gigantism are intense intra‐specific competition following severe fires, and inter‐specific competition among adult trees. However, we suggest that this was made possible by a general capacity of eucalypts for ‘hyper‐emergence’. We argue that, because giant eucalypts occur in rain‐forest climates and share traits with rain‐forest pioneers, they should be regarded as long‐lived rain‐forest pioneers, albeit with a particular dependence on fire for regeneration. These unique ecosystems are of high conservation value, following substantial clearing and logging over 150 yr. Contents Summary 1001 I. Introduction 1001 II. Giant eucalypts in a global context 1002 III. Giant eucalypts – taxonomy and distribution 1004 IV. Growth of giant eucalypts 1006 V. Fire and regeneration of giant eucalypts 1008 VI. Are giant eucalypts different from other rain‐forest trees? 1009 VII. Conclusions 1010 Acknowledgements 1011 References 1011

A conceptual framework for predicting temperate ecosystem sensitivity to human impacts on fire regimes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 29-01-2013

DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12038

Arrested Policy Development of Private Fire Shelters (Fire Bunkers) Is a Barrier to Adaptation to the Australian Bushfire Crisis

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 03-08-2023

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE6080298

Abstract: The Victorian Government Inquiry into wildfires that killed 173 people in 2009 has driven an Australian policy shift from self-evacuation or staying and defending a well-prepared property (‘go or stay’) to self-evacuation under catastrophic fire weather (‘leave early’). The Inquiry also led to the establishment of national ‘performance standards’ for Private Fire Shelters (PFSs, that are also known as bunkers). Nonetheless, the incorporation of PFSs into national bushfire policy remains embryonic, with only Victoria having streamlined accreditation and planning approval processes. Arguments against PFSs include potentially engendering complacency about preparing dwellings to survive fire and encouraging risky behaviour in response to a fire threat. Counteracting these arguments is research that shows that residents without PFSs have low engagement with bushfire preparation and typically delay evacuation. In any case, because wildfire is unpredictable, it is accepted that self-evacuation plans must have fallback positions that include sheltering ‘in place’ from the bushfire, making properly used and well-maintained PFSs an important element of bushfire safety. A less discussed barrier to PFS uptake outside Victoria appears to hinge on a lack of clarity about obligations for their design, certification, and consistency with planning approvals. The escalating Australian fire crisis demands much greater research and development in legal frameworks, policy and planning processes for PFSs, as well as design and construction standards. Progress in enhancing Australian laws and policies on this issue may offer important opportunities for other jurisdictions that will experience similar challenges as climate change intensifies fire regimes around the world.

Review and analysis of current responses to COVID-19 in Indonesia: Period of January to March 2020

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.PDISAS.2020.100091

Temporal and spatial variation of fine roots in a northern AustralianEucalyptus tetrodontasavanna

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 03-2008

DOI: 10.1017/S0266467408004860

Abstract: Six rhizotrons in an Eucalyptus tetrodonta savanna revealed seasonal changes in the abundance of fine roots (≤ 5 mm diameter). Fine roots were almost completely absent from the upper 1 m of soil during the dry season, but proliferated after the onset of wet-season rains. At peak abundance of 3.9 kg m −2 soil surface, fine roots were distributed relatively uniformly throughout 1 m depth, in contrast with many tropical savannas and tropical dry forests in which fine roots are most abundant near the soil surface. After 98% of cumulative annual rainfall had been received, fine roots began to disappear rapidly, such that 76 d later, less than 5.8% of peak abundance remained. The scarcity of fine roots in the upper 1 m of soil early in the dry season suggests that evergreen trees may be able to extract water from below 1 m throughout the dry season. Persistent deep roots together with abundant fine roots in the upper 1 m of soil during the wet season constitute a ‘dual’ root system. Deep roots might buffer atmospheric CO 2 against increase by sequestering carbon at depth in the soil.

Supplementary material to &quot;Evolution of an extreme Pyrocumulonimbus-driven wildfire event in Tasmania, Australia&quot;

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 19-12-2019

DOI: 10.5194/NHESS-2019-354-SUPPLEMENT

Transient hybridization, not homoploid hybrid speciation, between ancient and deeply divergent conifers

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-2016

DOI: 10.3732/AJB.1500433

Abstract: Homoploid hybrid speciation is receiving growing attention due the increasing recognition of its role in speciation. We investigate if in iduals intermediate in morphology between the two species of the conifer genus Athrotaxis represent a homoploid hybrid species, A. laxifolia, or are spontaneous F1 hybrids. A total of 1055 in iduals of Athrotaxis cupressoides and A. selaginoides, morphologically intermediate in iduals, and two putative hybrid swarms were s led across the range of the genus and genotyped with 13 microsatellites. We used simulations to test the power of our data to identify the pure species, F1s, F2s, and backcross generations. We found that Athrotaxis cupressoides and A. selaginoides are likely the most ergent congeneric conifers known, but the intermediates are F1 hybrids, sharing one allele each from A. cupressoides and A. selaginoides at six loci with completely species specific alleles. The hybrid swarms contain wide genetic variation with stronger affinities to the locally dominant species, A. selaginoides and A. selaginoides backcrosses outnumbering A. cupressoides backcrosses. In addition, we observed evidence for isolated advanced generation backcrosses within the range of the pure species. We conclude that, even though they can be large and long-lived, Athrotaxis hybrid swarms are on a trajectory of decline and will eventually be reabsorbed by the parental species. However, this process may take millennia and fossil evidence suggests that such events have occurred repeatedly since the early Quaternary. Given this timeline, our study highlights the many obstacles to homoploid hybrid speciation.

Fire regimes of Australia: A pyrogeographic model system

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 25-01-2013

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12065

Fire and cattle disturbance affects vegetation structure and rain forest expansion into savanna in the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 19-06-2017

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.13039

Experimental comparison of four remote sensing techniques to map tropical savanna fire-scars using Landsat-TM imagery

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2003

DOI: 10.1071/WF03030

Abstract: A landscape-scale fire experiment, conducted over two consecutive dry seasons in a large tract of tropical savanna in northern Australia, was used to evaluate four methods to map fire scars apparent on Landsat-TM imagery: (i) systematic visual (ii) semi-automated (iii) automated and (iv) change detection. All of the methods showed rapid fading of the fire scars. Overall, the automated and visual methods were able to discriminate burnt areas for longer than the other methods. However, the automated method also falsely identified fire-scars on between 5 and 20% of the unburnt catchments prior to the experimental late dry season fire treatments. One cause of the fading appears related to the increased flushing of tree canopies on burnt areas, although the spatially patchy recovery within and between catchments points to the importance of other factors such as the recovery of the ground layer. It appears that Landsat-TM imagery cannot be used to reliably determine the spatial extent and timing of fires in environments with rapid post-fire recovery, such as tropical savannas, thereby limiting the utility of this data source for fine-scale ecological studies.

Population structures of the widespread Australian conifer Callitris columellaris are a bio-indicator of continental environmental change

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2011

DOI: 10.1016/J.FORECO.2011.03.030

Save the world’s forest giants from infernos

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 27-09-2022

DOI: 10.1038/D41586-022-03009-8

Ecohealth and Aboriginal Testimony of the Nexus Between Human Health and Place

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 17-11-2007

DOI: 10.1007/S10393-007-0142-0

Arbuscular-Mycorrhizal Networks Inhibit Eucalyptus tetrodonta Seedlings in Rain Forest Soil Microcosms

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 27-02-2013

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0057716

The Getting of the Nganabbarru : observations and reflections on Aboriginal buffalo hunting in northern Australia

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 07-2002

DOI: 10.1080/00049180220151007

Fire Cycles and the Spatial Pattern of the Scrub–Sedgeland Mosaic at Blakes Opening in Western Tasmania, Australia

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 08-06-2023

DOI: 10.3390/FIRE6060232

Abstract: The cause of large areas of treeless Sedgeland and Scrub communities in western Tasmania, one of the wettest regions of Australia, has long puzzled ecologists, given the climatic suitability for temperate Eucalyptus and rainforests. A pervasive theory, known as the ecological drift model, is that landscape fires have created a dynamic mosaic of fire-adapted and fire-sensitive vegetation. A contrary view, known as the fire cycle model, asserts that fire patterns are a consequence, not a cause, of the mosaics, which are edaphically determined. We leveraged the opportunity presented by a large wildfire that occurred in a Sedgeland tract surrounded by Eucalyptus forest in the Huon Valley in 2019 to help discriminate between these competing models. Specifically, we sought to determine whether there was any evidence that the Sedgeland was becoming infilled with Scrub prior to the 2019 fire, and whether the fire caused the Scrub community to convert to Sedgeland. A field survey was used to assess the mortality of shrubs and their regeneration following the 2019 fire, and we used dendrochronology to determine the age of the fire-killed shrubs. We also used historical aerial photography since the 1980s to map fire scars and the distribution of Sedgeland and Scrub. We found that fire killed most shrubs in the Sedgeland and Scrub communities and initiated a cohort of shrub regeneration. Dendrochronological analysis of the fire-killed shrubs revealed that most were established approximately 40 years ago, following a fire that is apparent from aerial photography and most likely occurred around 1983. An analysis of aerial photography revealed that since 1980, the distribution of the Scrub community has remained stable, although the density of shrubs declined following the 1983 fire. The recovery of the burned Scrub areas in 1983 and the rapid regeneration of the shrubs following the 2019 fire is more consistent with the fire cycle model than the ecological drift model. These findings concord with the demonstrated stability of the Eucalyptus forest boundary at this site revealed by a separate study. The slow growth of the shrubs cautions against frequently burning Sedgelands, because it could cause the collapse of shrub populations by killing the immature cohort initiated by fire.

Landscape analysis of Aboriginal fire management in Central Arnhem Land, north Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-2004

DOI: 10.1046/J.0305-0270.2003.00997.X

Differences in grass pollen allergen exposure across Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2015

DOI: 10.1111/1753-6405.12325

Dynamics of Acacia aneura - Triodia boundaries using carbon (14C and δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) signatures in soil organic matter in central Australia

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 04-2007

DOI: 10.1177/0959683607076442

Abstract: Soil organic matter (SOM) was s led from soil profiles on a near level sandsheet at the southern limit of the Tanami Desert in central Australia to determine if boundaries of Triodia hummock grassland— Acacia aneura shrublands had changed in the Holocene. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating of 16 soil profiles showed that SOM that had accumulated at 100 to 140 cm depth, (near the base of most profiles) had ages between 1175 and 2630 14 C years, averaging 1906 14 C years. The stable carbon isotopic (δ 13 C) composition of SOM from the upper 50 cm soil profiles in the A. aneura shrubland (inhabited by plants with predominantly C3 photosynthetic pathway) was significantly more 13 C-depleted than the comparable soil interval beneath a Triodia grassland (predominantly C4 photosynthetic pathway). Mean age of SOM at 50 cm depth was 830 14 C years, suggesting the vegetation has been stable for about 1000 years. However, soil profiles in Triodia grassland adjacent to the shrubland boundary had slightly more depleted δ 13 C relative to sites .5 km from the boundary. With respect to stable nitrogen isotopic values, only surface soils in the Acacia shrublands were found to be 15 N-enriched relative to all other soil depths. Although there were no obvious environmental discontinuities, such as change in soil type or slope angle, associated with the ecosystem boundaries, the Acacia shrublands were found to occur on more clay-rich soils with higher concentrations of total phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium compared with the surrounding grasslands, and these trends became more pronounced with increasing distance from the ecotone: it is unclear if these differences are a cause or an effect of the vegetation mosaic. The concordance of the vegetation boundaries with the δ 13 C and δ 15 N and of soil nutrients are consistent with only minor attrition of the A. aneura shrublands in the late Holocene at this site.

Diversity Patterns of Woody Species on a Latitudinal Transect From the Monsoon Tropics to Desert in the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1996

DOI: 10.1071/BT9960571

Abstract: A belt transect, made up of 15 contiguous cells (width, 3.5° of longitude length, 1° of latitude), was established from the monsoon tropics on the central north coast of the Northern Temtory (11°S) to the central Australian desert on the South Australian border (26°S). On this transect, mean annual rainfall was found to have a negative exponential decay with latitude, with arid conditions commencing at around 18"s-the limit of the monsoonal rains. The mean elevation of each cell steadily increased from the north coast to reach a maximum average elevation of 700 m at around 23°S. The mean alpha ersity (quadrat species richness), and mean beta- ersity (turnover of species along an environmental gradient) was determined for each of the 15 cells by sub-s ling a large 20 × 20 m quadrat data set (N 2000) collected during the course of the Northern Territory 1:106 vegetation mapping program. It was found that there was little within-cell variation of beta- ersity of woody species which occurred in at least five quadrats, as approximated by the first axis of a detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of these data. The mean first axis DCA scores were strongly correlated with latitude (r = 0.99) thus, there is no evidence for a floristic disjunction in the composition of common woody species between the monsoon tropics and desert. Mean alpha- ersity had a bimodal distribution on the latitudinal transect, with the maximum mean quadrat richness in the monsoon tropics and a second smaller peak occurred in central Australia, with the lowest levels of alpha- ersity to the south of the limit of the monsoon rains. This pattern was mirrored by the mean number and mean Shannon-Wiener ersity of 1:106 vegetation map units on the transect. It was found that 81% of the variance of mean alpha- ersity was explained by mean annual rainfall and mean elevation for the 15 cells. The increase in mean alpha- ersity in central Australia appears to be related to environmental heterogeneity associated with mountainous terrain. It is possible that the central Australian mountains are a refuge for plants that were more widespread during the last ice-age. It is unknown whether the woody species ersity patterns are in equilibrium with the prevailing climate. More data on the palaeo-environments of the Northern Territory are required to answer this question.

Managing an Endangered Asian Bovid in an Australian National Park: The Role and Limitations of Ecological-Economic Models in Decision-Making

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-2012

DOI: 10.1007/S00267-005-0157-7

Abstract: Should north Australia's extensive populations of feral animals be eradicated for conservation, or exploited as a rare opportunity for Indigenous enterprise in remote regions? We examine options for a herd of banteng, a cattle species endangered in its native Asian range but abundant in Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, an Aboriginal land managed jointly by traditional owners and a conservation agency in the Northern Territory of Australia. We reflect on the paradoxes that arise when trying to deal effectively with such complex and contested issues in natural resource management using decision-support tools (ecological-economic models), by identifying the trade-offs inherent in protecting values whilst also providing incomes for Indigenous landowners.

Climate Change, Wildfires, Heatwaves and Health Impacts in Australia

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Date: 16-11-2019

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-23773-8_8

Pyrogeography, historical ecology, and the human dimensions of fire regimes

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 24-02-2014

DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12285

Land clearance not dieback continues to drive tree loss in a Tasmanian rural landscape

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-01-2013

DOI: 10.1007/S10113-012-0396-0

A wide diversity of epicormic structures is present in Myrtaceae species in the northern Australian savanna biome - implications for adaptation to fire

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 2010

DOI: 10.1071/BT10107

Abstract: Recent research has shown that the eucalypts of southern Australia have an unusual and apparently fire-adapted epicormic structure. By studying a range of myrtaceous species from northern Australia we hoped to determine if this structure was also present in northern eucalypts. We anatomically examined the epicormic structures from 21 myrtaceous species in 11 genera from the north of the Northern Territory, Australia. An extremely wide ersity of epicormic structures was found, ranging from buds absent, buds at or near the bark surface, to bud-forming meristems in the innermost bark. These Myrtaceae species displayed a far greater variation in epicormic structure than recorded in any other family. This is possibly a reflection of the importance of the resprouter strategy, a long fire history in Australia and the ecological ersification of the Myrtaceae. Nonetheless, all the investigated eucalypts (northern and southern) possessed the same specialised, apparently fire-adapted, epicormic structure. This is remarkably consistent given the taxonomic, geographical and morphological ersity of the eucalypts.

Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 05-06-2016

DOI: 10.1098/RSTB.2015.0169

Abstract: Fire positively and negatively affects food webs across all trophic levels and guilds and influences a range of ecological processes that reinforce fire regimes, such as nutrient cycling and soil development, plant regeneration and growth, plant community assembly and dynamics, herbivory and predation. Thus we argue that rather than merely describing spatio-temporal patterns of fire regimes, pyro ersity must be understood in terms of feedbacks between fire regimes, bio ersity and ecological processes. Humans shape pyro ersity both directly, by manipulating the intensity, severity, frequency and extent of fires, and indirectly, by influencing the abundance and distribution of various trophic guilds through hunting and husbandry of animals, and introduction and cultivation of plant species. Conceptualizing landscape fire as deeply embedded in food webs suggests that the restoration of degraded ecosystems requires the simultaneous careful management of fire regimes and native and invasive plants and animals, and may include introducing new vertebrates to compensate for extinctions that occurred in the recent and more distant past. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Contracting Tasmanian montane grasslands within a forest matrix is consistent with cessation of Aboriginal fire management

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-11-2012

DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12008

Not an ancient relic: the endemicLivistonapalms of arid central Australia could have been introduced by humans

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 07-03-2012

DOI: 10.1098/RSPB.2012.0103

Abstract: Livistona mariae is an endemic palm localized in arid central Australia. This species is separated by about 1000 km from its congener L. rigida , which grows distantly in the Roper River and Nicholson–Gregory River catchments in northern Australia. Such an isolated distribution of L. mariae has been assumed to have resulted from contraction of ancestral populations as Australia aridified from the Mid-Miocene ( ca 15 Ma). To test this hypothesis at the population level, we examined the genetic relationships among 14 populations of L. mariae and L. rigida using eight nuclear microsatellite loci. Our population tree and Bayesian clustering revealed that these populations comprised two genetically distinct groups that did not correspond to the current classification at species rank, and L. mariae showed closest affinity with L. rigida from Roper River. Furthermore, coalescent ergence-time estimations suggested that the disjunction between the northern populations (within L. rigida ) could have originated by intermittent colonization along an ancient river that has been drowned repeatedly by marine transgression. During that time, L. mariae populations could have been established by opportunistic immigrants from Roper River about 15 000 years ago, concurrently with the settlement of indigenous Australians in central Australia, who are thus plausible vectors. Thus, our results rule out the ancient relic hypothesis for the origin of L. mariae .

Observations on the Demography of the Australian Boab Adansonia gibbosa) in the North-west of the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: CSIRO Publishing

Date: 1997

DOI: 10.1071/BT96092

Abstract: A study of the size-class distributions of the Australian boab, Adansonia gibbosa (A.Cunn.) Guymer ex D.Baum, a tree endemic to north-western Australia, was conducted in Gregory National Park and Keep River National Park, in the Northern Territory. It was found that populations of A. gibbosa on alluvial plains had high densities of small, immature stems 10 cm dbh (diameter at breast height), and that the density of immature stems decreased with increasing distance from a river. By contrast, there was an absence of small size classes in a population growing on a sandstone escarpment. On limestone substrates, high densities of small size-class stems were observed at a site topographically protected from wildfire, but there was an absence of small size classes at a site exposed to wildfires. Differences in gross allocation patterns, as inferred from relationships between tree height, trunk diameter and height of the swollen trunk, were observed between alluvial, sandstone and limestone substrates. These differences suggest growth rates also differ on distinct substrates. There was a highly significant negative association between the presence of fruit and evidence of recent fire damage for stems greater than 10 cm dbh. This pattern may be related to the destruction of reproductive structures by late dry season fire. However, additional factors appear to control fruit production, as 36% of the unburnt stems 10 cm dbh also lacked fruit. Juvenile plants resprout from swollen tap roots after wildfire, thus frequent fires would be required to have a long-term impact on stands of A. gibbosa heavily stocked with juveniles that possess swollen tap roots. However, it is unknown at what age juveniles develop swollen tap roots and if all juveniles with swollen tap roots resprout following fire damage. It is hypothesised that the local distribution of A. gibbosa is controlled by fire history, and that changes in fire regimes associated with cattle grazing are causing changes in the distribution of this species. More research is required to critically evaluate this conjecture.

Isolation and characterization of 52 polymorphic EST-SSR markers forCallitris columellaris(Cupressaceae)

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2011

DOI: 10.3732/AJB.1100276

Abstract: We developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for Callitris columellaris sensu lato (s.l.) to elucidate population genetic structure and detect outlier loci by genome scan. mRNA from an in idual seedling was subjected to cDNA synthesis and then de novo pyrosequencing. Two hundred and nineteen primer pairs bordering sequence regions were designed from the obtained sequence data. In total, 52 showed polymorphism within 16 in iduals representative of the species' entire range, with the number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity ranging from two to 10 and 0.06 to 0.84, respectively. The EST-SSR markers developed in this study will be useful for evaluating the range-wide genetic structure of C. columellaris s.l. and detecting outlier loci under selection, as well as providing useful markers to investigate the conservation genetics and reproductive ecology of the species.

Tropical tree stand structures on a seasonally flooded elevation gradient in northern Australia

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 05-1996

DOI: 10.1080/00049189608703155

A decade of restoring a temperate woodland: Lessons learned and future directions

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2021

DOI: 10.1111/EMR.12537

Abstract: We synthesise the findings from 10 years of ecological restoration in the Midlands of Tasmania, Australia, captured in the series of 14 papers in this special issue of Ecological Management and Restoration. The papers illustrate how expertise from disciplines as erse as law, economics, social sciences, the arts, education, zoology, botany, genetics, climate modelling, agriculture, spatial sciences and fire ecology are necessary to address the complex social, ecological and financial questions that underpin restoration ecology. We highlight the complexity of the task, the multi‐disciplinary and collaborative approach needed, the importance of science to inform restoration practice and the problem of achieving functional connectivity. We also outline steps that need to be taken in the next 10 years. Together, the outcomes and recommendations from these studies provide a template for restoration in similar highly cleared and degraded agricultural landscapes affected by climate change in Australia and internationally.

International Consensus on Allergen Immunotherapy II: Mechanisms, standardization, and pharmacoeconomics

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.JACI.2015.12.1300

Abstract: This article continues the comprehensive international consensus (ICON) statement on allergen immunotherapy (AIT). The initial article also recently appeared in the Journal. The conclusions below focus on key mechanisms of AIT-triggered tolerance, requirements in allergen standardization, AIT cost-effectiveness, and regulatory guidance. Potential barriers to and facilitators of the use of AIT are described in addition to future directions. International allergy specialists representing the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the World Allergy Organization critically reviewed the existing literature and prepared this summary of recommendations for best AIT practice. The authors contributed equally and reached consensus on the statements presented herein.

Book reviews

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-1993

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.1993.TB00464.X

A Two-Phase Model for Smoothly Joining Disparate Growth Phases in the Macropodid Thylogale billardierii

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 12-10-2011

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0024934

The pyrohealth transition: How combustion emissions have shaped health through human history

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 05-06-2016

DOI: 10.1098/RSTB.2015.0173

Abstract: Air pollution from landscape fires, domestic fires and fossil fuel combustion is recognized as the single most important global environmental risk factor for human mortality and is associated with a global burden of disease almost as large as that of tobacco smoking. The shift from a reliance on biomass to fossil fuels for powering economies, broadly described as the pyric transition, frames key patterns in human fire usage and landscape fire activity. These have produced distinct patters of human exposure to air pollution associated with the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions and post-industrial the Earth global system-wide changes increasingly known as the Anthropocene. Changes in patterns of human fertility, mortality and morbidity associated with economic development have been previously described in terms of demographic, epidemiological and nutrition transitions, yet these frameworks have not explicitly considered the direct consequences of combustion emissions for human health. To address this gap, we propose a pyrohealth transition and use data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) collaboration to compare direct mortality impacts of emissions from landscape fires, domestic fires, fossil fuel combustion and the global epidemic of tobacco smoking. Improving human health and reducing the environmental impacts on the Earth system will require a considerable reduction in biomass and fossil fuel combustion. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Fire and cyclone damage to woody vegetation on the north coast of the Northern Territory, Australia

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 05-1994

DOI: 10.1080/00049189408703096

Turnover of southern cypresses in the post-Gondwanan world: extinction, transoceanic dispersal, adaptation and rediversification

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 23-11-2019

DOI: 10.1111/NPH.15561

Allosyncarpia‐dominated rain forest in monsoonal northern Australia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-1993

DOI: 10.2307/3235734

Global combustion: The connection between fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions (1997–2010)

Publisher: The Royal Society

Date: 05-06-2016

DOI: 10.1098/RSTB.2015.0177

Abstract: Humans use combustion for heating and cooking, managing lands, and, more recently, for fuelling the industrial economy. As a shift to fossil-fuel-based energy occurs, we expect that anthropogenic biomass burning in open landscapes will decline as it becomes less fundamental to energy acquisition and livelihoods. Using global data on both fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions, we tested this relationship over a 14 year period (1997–2010). The global average annual carbon emissions from biomass burning during this time were 2.2 Pg C per year (±0.3 s.d.), approximately one-third of fossil fuel emissions over the same period (7.3 Pg C, ±0.8 s.d.). There was a significant inverse relationship between average annual fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions. Fossil fuel emissions explained 8% of the variation in biomass burning emissions at a global scale, but this varied substantially by land cover. For ex le, fossil fuel burning explained 31% of the variation in biomass burning in woody savannas, but was a non-significant predictor for evergreen needleleaf forests. In the land covers most dominated by human use, croplands and urban areas, fossil fuel emissions were more than 30- and 500-fold greater than biomass burning emissions. This relationship suggests that combustion practices may be shifting from open landscape burning to contained combustion for industrial purposes, and highlights the need to take into account how humans appropriate combustion in global modelling of contemporary fire. Industrialized combustion is not only an important driver of atmospheric change, but also an important driver of landscape change through companion declines in human-started fires. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Phylogeography of an Australian termite, Amitermes laurensis (Isoptera, Termitidae), with special reference to the variety of mound shapes

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2007

DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2006.06.024

Abstract: In northern Australia, the debris-feeding termite Amitermes laurensis builds tall, wedge-shaped mounds in the northern part of Cape York Peninsula and Arnhem Land, where their habitats are seasonally flooded, and small dome shaped mounds in the southeastern part of Cape York Peninsula, where their habitats are well-drained. Phylogeographic analyses were conducted in 238 in iduals from 30 populations using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II (COII) gene. DNA sequences of 50 haplotypes were used to construct NJ, MP and ML trees. Phylogenetic trees for 16 Amitermes species showed monophyly of A. laurensis and the variation of A. laurensis mounds did not strongly correspond to the intraspecific phylogeny. It was observed that mounds with the same shape were constructed by phylogenetically different groups under similar environmental conditions and different mounds shapes were built by phylogenetically closely related groups under the different environmental conditions. Thus, phylogenetically close groups of A. laurensis, in different habitats, may adapt to environmental conditions by constructing different mound shapes. We also investigated the phylogeographic structure of A. laurensis. The significant positive correlation between genetic and geographic distances indicated isolation by distance, reflecting restricted dispersal ability of alates. Although the overall genetic structure of A. laurensis showed isolation by distance, we also identified two exceptions: (i) secondary contacts of genetically ergent lineages in southern Cape York Peninsula, and (ii) low genetic differences between geographically separated populations of Cape York Peninsula and Arnhem Land. Therefore, the phylogeography of A. laurensis may reflect continuous gene flow restricted to short distances and past changes of gene flow associated with the fluctuation of environmental conditions accompanying the changing sea levels in the Quaternary.

Vegetation fires in the Anthropocene

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 18-08-2020

DOI: 10.1038/S43017-020-0085-3

Humid tropical rain forest has expanded into eucalypt forest and savanna over the last 50 years

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 24-11-2011

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.70

The habitat requirements of four sympatric rock‐dwelling macropods of the Australian monsoon tropics

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 30-10-2008

DOI: 10.1111/J.1442-9993.2008.01873.X

Firescape ecology: how topography determines the contrasting distribution of fire and rain forest in the south-west of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 13-05-2011

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2011.02524.X